good morning… first post ever.

And for my second post ever, I think that a full investigation of Halliburton, Parsons, Bechtel, Blackwater, and others is one of the first things that Congress (once it turns Democratic) should investigate.

War profiteering is the most despicable of crimes, and I’m nauseous just thinking about it.

Christy - I actually had to stop listening/watching yesterday it was making me so mad. Lou Dobbs wasn’t terribly pleased, either (and it got him off the immigration thing for a few minutes - *g*).

Yeah, CNN’s Lou Dobbs did a segment.

OT-ish but VERY important messgae –

Happy “International Talk Like a Pirate Day!!”

Arrrrrr….

No ITLPD woulod be complete without a viewing or two of my favorite Beatle, George Harrison, singing The Pirate Song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSIjlUMV6Is

Returning you to your regularly scheduled Satire.

(Great post, CHS!)

I’m listening to the hearing right now on Cspan II….8:43 AM Tues.

dannyM @ 2

War profiteering is the most despicable of crimes, and I’m nauseous just thinking about it.

I so completely agree. It is a violation of the national trust and should be considered akin to treasonable conduct. It steals from citizens over the bodies of its sons and daughters. Back in FDR’s time (and after), profiteers were portrayed as the most evil of characters — think of Harry Lime in “The Third Man.”

Did anyone see K.O last night?? Great speech addressed to Bush about free speech!

Let’s do a quick timeline for everyone to review.

Dick Cheney, as Sec. of Defense, hires Halliburton to do a study about potential areas where privatization can save the DOD money (typical repub free market crap). Halliburton comes back with a report detailing all types of privatization opportunities.

Poppy looses the next election, and Dick becomes CEO of Halliburton. There he attaches firmly to the governmental teet, and gets all sorts of contracts with DOD.

Dick heads the committee looking for Jr’s VP, and appoints himself to that position. As the co-decider, he engineers a war that will lavish all kinds of goodies on his old company.

Well… since his shares in Halliburton are held in “trust”, I guess that he isn’t really a war profiteer himself.

EPUd comment on the Warner-McCain-Graham bill.

Danny at 1 — welcome. :)

Katie at 8 — Jane did a post on the KO show last night. C&L has the clip from the speech in case anyone missed it.

I was so excited that I forgot to scroll down and then noticed we have a whole post on K.O. My bad!!

Morning, all!

coffee is good!

This should be all over the place.

Keith Olbermann is fantastic.

this group of criminals certainly operate as if they will never be caught or prosecuted…

Anne and Jim E. — I missed the Dobbs segment yesterday. Did he interview anyone or was it commentary? Do you recall the gist of his segment? Am curious as to how it played with him — if he gets on a tear on this, that would be fantastic. This is one of those issues that needs someone to go on a big, long, investigative tear. Greenwald and his production staff has done such a wonderful job with this film — and I want someone to pick up the ball and run further with it on this issue. The Truman Commission ought to be a very good model for what ought to be done.

There was one moment during the hearing yesterday when Dick Durbin was questioning the attorneys present about the uncooperation by and shielding of Halliburton by DoD and he said something like “makes you wonder if they have friends in high places in the govt” with a bemused look on his face– the room erupted with appreciative laughter. Other than that, it was bleak and maddening.

While the hearing commenced, Reid and Durbin fired off some heated salvos on the Senate floor wrt Rajiv’s Emerald City article and the utter lack of oversight by Congress that has allowed the waste, fraud and abuse.

is chimpy speaking before the UN this morning?

that should be rich…

Christy– here’s the segment:

Troubling new evidence tonight about massive waste and corruption by American contractors in Iraq. Nearly $10 billion of U.S. government money in Iraq is unaccounted for, $10 billion. And perhaps even more disturbing, taxpayer dollars enabled many of those contractors in Iraq to have better living conditions than our own troops. Lisa Sylvester reports from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT, LOU DOBBS TONIGHT (voice over): Iraq is a cash cow for government contractors who collect $10 of millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars, and often don’t deliver the goods.

The U.S. government contracted to have a prison built for 4,400 prisoners, the cost, $45 million. The taxpayers ended up paying $48 million for a prison a third of the size. In a separate case, the U.S. government paid the contractor Parsons $200 million to complete 142 health clinics, six were completed.

SEN. BYRON DORGAN, (D) NORTH DAKOTA: I think it’s almost unbelievable that the oversight and the accountability is not there, no one seems to give a damn.

SYLVESTER: The Democratic Policy Committee held a hearing accusing the Republican-controlled Congress of not investigating rampant waste and abuse. Julie McBride, a former Halliburton worker testified that that perks meant for the troops were going to Halliburton big wigs.

JULIE MCBRIDE, FMR. HALLIBURTON EMPLOYEE: Halliburton employees also exploit requisitions to obtain luxuries that are not afforded to the troops, one example of this was a Super Bowl party for Halliburton employees only, at taxpayer expense. Halliburton requisitioned a big screen TV and lots of food for the private use of Halliburton employees.

SYLVESTER: Half of the $18 billion in Iraq reconstruction funds are unaccounted for. The special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction has opened up 40 new investigations of alleged fraud and corruption. The money wasted on government contracts comes directly out of the pockets of U.S. taxpayers. But it also costs troop morale.

PATRICK CAMPBELL, IRAQ-AFGHANISTAN VETERAN: Soldiers don’t have a whole lot when they’re sitting in 20-man tent, and when they see KBR employees driving around in their personal vehicles, and eating better food than them, it just totally drives you down.

SYLVESTER: So, far the Justice Department has not brought any civil or criminal cases to recover for contracting fraud in Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SYLVESTER: Halliburton responded to today’s hearing saying it takes any charges of improper conduct seriously. The company’s code of conduct, quote, does not allow unethical business practices — Lou?

DOBBS: And what about the issue of those contractors receiving better treatment, food, housing, living conditions than our troops in Iraq? Any investigation under way there?

SYLVESTER: This is a huge problem. It’s one that many soldiers, and that our troops will come back, and we often hear these stories, anecdotally. As far as what Halliburton says, is it says that it is allowed to provide for the morale of its employees, but there clearly is a discrepancy in the way Halliburton has been treating its employees versus how and some of the services that the troops have been receiving, Lou.

DOBBS: That’s a combat theater and I think the generals would have some explaining to do on that issue as well. As well as the issue, in this administration, in terms of the pay of private security forces and their living conditions as compared to American troops are doing the tough, tough job of trying to stabilize Iraq.

Lisa, thank you very much. Lisa Sylvester reporting from Washington.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRA.....dt.01.html

I really hope the Dems don’t try to appease the rethugs on this issue and the torture issue.

“An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile - hoping it will eat him last” Churchill

maybe chimpy will be arrested at the UN this morning

ok, well, I can dream, can’t I?

immanentize @ 7

dannyM @ 2

War profiteering is the most despicable of crimes, and I’m nauseous just thinking about it.

I so completely agree. It is a violation of the national trust and should be considered akin to treasonable conduct. It steals from citizens over the bodies of its sons and daughters. Back in FDR’s time (and after), profiteers were portrayed as the most evil of characters — think of Harry Lime in “The Third Man.”

I’m going to suggest to my Democratic House candidate’s campaign staff that we use as a handout for door-to-door canvassing: 1) this post 2)the text of Waxman’s amendment and 3) the Republican incumbent’s “nay” vote. It’s a visceral issue.

all right, gotta get up, get goin’ and go out there and dodge the traffic…

op99 at 22 — that is a fantastic idea. You might want to use the quotes from the Dobbs report on the Halliburton folks being treated better than our soldiers and that there has been no accountability from Congress. For wingers, Dobbs tends to have some decent credibility — might be a more effective flier that way.

Had to stop and feed my hungry muttsies before I could finish the email to KO and got epu’d on the last thread.

Balrog–
Couldn’t find a direct email address for KO, so I sent the following email to countdown@msnbc.com.

Dear Mr. Olbermann:

When the story of a foiled plot to blow up commercial aircraft bound for America using liquid explosives broke in the American media – just as Connecticut’s Democratic primary was taking place — you responded with a commentary called The Nexus of Politics and Terror (Aug.14th).

Raw Story posted an article yesterday that is the perfect follow-up to your commentary:

British Army expert casts doubt on ‘liquid explosives’ threat, Al Qaeda network in UK Identified

Lieutenant-Colonel (ret.) Nigel Wylde, a former senior British Army Intelligence Officer, has suggested that the police and government story about the “terror plot” revealed on 10th August was part of a “pattern of lies and deceit.”

I’d love to see you interview Lt. Col. Wylde, a retired senior officer in British Intelligence and expert on liquid explosives, who says:

“The idea that these people could sit in the plane toilet and simply mix together these normal household fluids to create a high explosive capable of blowing up the entire aircraft is untenable,” said Lt. Col. Wylde, who was trained as an ammunition technical officer responsible for terrorist bomb disposal at the Royal Army Ordnance Corps in Sandhurst.”

The link to the full story is here:

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2....._Fiction_U nderscoring_0918.html

***
Balrog and other fdlers, if you want to go back and review Keith’s NNexus of Politics and Terror commentary, it’s posted at C&L and here’s the link:

http://www.crooksandliars.com/.....-nexus-of- politics-and-terror/

Great work, Christy and previous commenters — wow, angie, you’re fast (a researcher after lhp’s own heart)!

Welcome home, dannyM.

I’m going to suggest to my Democratic House candidate’s campaign staff that we use as a handout for door-to-door canvassing: 1) this post 2)the text of Waxman’s amendment and 3) the Republican incumbent’s “nay” vote. It’s a visceral issue.

And if they have any sense at all, op99, they’ll jump right on it — ARRRRRRRRH!

Christy Hardin Smith @ 24

op99 at 22 — that is a fantastic idea. You might want to use the quotes from the Dobbs report on the Halliburton folks being treated better than our soldiers and that there has been no accountability from Congress. For wingers, Dobbs tends to have some decent credibility — might be a more effective flier that way.

Yup. Maybe substitute Dobbs for CHS in the redder neighborhoods. *g*

The clip of the hearing is available on C-SPAN’s website: http://www.c-span.org/
It’s at the top of the list of ‘recent programs’.

Last night on CNN, they showed an Iraq vet talking about how hard it was on morale to see these contractors driving around in their cushy cars and knowing they are getting better food, etc. The reporter covering the story said that when they asked Halliburton for comment, they were told that Halliburton believes it has a right to provide for their employees in ways that keep up morale. My response? Who, exactly, is making the decision to stint the troops so that the employees can live in relative comfort? Those are MY tax dollars being divvied up that way, and if anyone deserves some comfort, if anyone needs a morale boost, it’s the troops…duh.

They showed the woman who was formerly with Halliburton talking about the routine provisioning of items that should be going to the troops, and referenced the Super Bowl party for which a big-screen TV was requisitioned, along with lots of good food and drink…for the Halliburton people. Hey…just because you’re in a war zone is no reason to suffer any sacrifices…unless you’re in the military, actually putting your life on the line, and then - what the hell - you’re already making THAT sacrifice, what’s the problem with a little contaminated water and spoiled food? I mean, you’re in the military - you understand deprivation, right? Why be treated to something you can’t have on a regular basis - it would just make fighting a war that much harder, wouldn’t it? And since you’re way underpaid, and aren’t going to go home to any kind of high-paying job, well, you don’t really understand a higher standard of living - we do, and we really don’t want that to change, so the good stuff? We’re getting that - you wouldn’t really appreciate it, anyway, not like we would.

And something like half of the 18 billion appropriated is unaccounted for?

This stuff makes my blood boil.

Here’s an OT that you, CHS (for only one), might want to check out at some point today. From yesterday on HufPo, Rachel Sklar’s

Remnick On Clinton On Everything, Picked Up By Nothing

immanentize @ 5

OT-ish but VERY important messgae –

Happy “International Talk Like a Pirate Day!!”

Arrrrrr….

(Great post, CHS!)

I think Redd is already celebrating International Talk Like a Pirate Day by featuring a YouTube satire on Halliburton’s CEO…

This is no different than what many of us in corporate America deal with every day-a 2 tiered system with high paid contractors and regular employees. Even badges are color coded for contractors and employees.

OT:

Glenn Greenwald - Here is the “moral authority” of the U.S. under the Bush administration

[…]

How can you be an American citizen and not be completely outraged, embarrassed, and disgusted by this conduct? What the Bush administration is doing on so many levels is a grotesque betrayal of every national value and principle we have always claimed to embrace and for which we have fought, and which we claim we are defending as part of our current “war”.

Can it even be debated at this point that the Bush administration has so plainly, as Billmon described it the other day, “forfeit(ed) forever its ability to chastise the human rights abuses of others without triggering a global laughing fit”? Who would ever take seriously the notion that a Government that engages in this behavior can lecture anyone on human rights abuses or import democratic values around the world?

[…]

That pretty much sums it up for me

:(

Arrrrr…I’m late for work!

A Pirate walked into a bar with a steering wheel in his pants. The bartender says, “did you know you have a steering wheel in your pants?” Pirate says, Ayeeee, and it’s drivin me nuts!”

Mornin’.

Housekeeping, yesterday i made a donation for Marcy’s book. How do you differentiate those from normal fdl donations? Sorry if I missed a previous answer, off-line life was calling.

During the Civil War, President Lincoln stated that those profiteering from defective weapons “ought to have their devilish heads shot off.”

(snip)

Pentagon contractors’ congressional allies routinely defeat or bury in committee initiatives that could curtail war profiteering. This June, for example, all 55 Senate Republicans voted to kill an amendment strengthening laws governing waste, fraud and abuse in defense (43 of 45 Democrats voted for it).

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0823-28.htm

I still fault the Dem leadership for not making enough of a stink to get more airtime for this sort of story. The MSM isn’t going to give it to them without a fight, but if they aren’t willing or able to prevail on this, I don’t hold out much hope for a turnover in the House or Senate in November.

Take a, um, bow, LindyH. *g*

from Danny M:

Poppy looses the next election, and Dick becomes CEO of Halliburton. There he attaches firmly to the governmental teet, and gets all sorts of contracts with DOD.

I had a conversation over the weekend with a young woman who claimed to be a conservative. She started on the “welfare queen” routine, and I tried to counter with exactly the above. Her response, “That’s why I hate big government.” So this is how they ’splain that away.

Infuriating. I tried to say that people on welfare are scraping together nickels and dimes while Halliburton is taking it by the boatload, but it is all the same to her. Incredible.

LindyH @ 35

Arrrrr…I’m late for work!

A Pirate walked into a bar with a steering wheel in his pants. The bartender says, “did you know you have a steering wheel in your pants?” Pirate says, Ayeeee, and it’s drivin me nuts!”

Arrrrgh! Nice one me hearty!

Not a pirate joke but funny as hell.

A Scotsman walks into a pub with a sheep under his arm. The bartender say “Angus, are ya gonna shear that sheep?” Angus replies, “No, I’m gonna fuck it meself.”

Marcy’s book: to show financial support, what about a place to pledge to buy—or even purchase in advance—one or more copies? That could be collateral for a short-term bank loan if necessary.

Get it up on Amazon ASAP so we can start making advance purchases?

I don’t know publishing, especially the new Glenn/Marcy model, but from a business point of view this is not very much money compared with our potential purchasing power.

The participants:

Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., Domestic Policy Cmte, Chair;
Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., Senate Democratic Leader;
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.;
Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M.;
Sen. Mark Dayton, D-Minn.;
Julie McBride, former Halliburton employee, Camp Fallujah, Iraq; Edward Sanchez, former Halliburton truck driver in Iraq;
Sean Larvenz, former Halliburton truck driver in Iraq;
Scott Allen, attorney of survivors of 2004 convoy attack;
Alan Grayson, attorney of Ms. McBride, seeking to recover misspent Halliburton funds

I was knocked out by Alan Grayson’s forthright condemnations of BushCo. He minced no words.
Christy, do you happen to recall the text of the historical quote (Lincoln?) Grayson used to hammer the issue to a head? It was so moving and right now I can’t for the life of me remember it. It’s a knockout and should be part of the information campaign. Must get coffee….

If anyone has an email address for Lou Dobbs, we should encourage him to stay on this story.

Apropos of nothing, I just gotta say that I got up a little while ago and opened this website and nearly shut it right up. I had not had my morning coffee yet and my eyes weren’t quite working and I thought that the headline read ‘A Little Morning Sartre’. I just wasn’t ready for existentilism this early.

I promise now. No FDL before coffee

Oh well, I’m one of those flowahs that never can remember jokes.

But if I carry a toon, kin I play too?

My Parrot’s reading over my shoulder again. When he read the following, he started squawking “Make ‘em walk the plank, matie, walk the plank, matie…”

WASHINGTON - There is so much political corruption on Capitol Hill that the FBI has had to triple the number of squads investigating lobbyists, lawmakers and influence peddlers, the Daily News has learned.
For decades, only one squad in Washington handled corruption cases because the crimes were seen as local offenses handled by FBI field offices in lawmakers’ home districts.

But in recent years, the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal and other abuses of power and privilege have prompted the FBI to assign 37 agents full-time to three new squads in an office near Capitol Hill.

http://nydailynews.com/front/s.....1809c.html

BTW, my parrot tells me “Torutre might be fun, but it NEVER works.”

dannyM @
9

Let’s do a quick timeline for everyone to review.

Dick Cheney, as Sec. of Defense, hires Halliburton to do a study about potential areas where privatization can save the DOD money (typical repub free market crap). Halliburton comes back with a report detailing all types of privatization opportunities.

Poppy looses the next election, and Dick becomes CEO of Halliburton. There he attaches firmly to the governmental teet, and gets all sorts of contracts with DOD.

Dick heads the committee looking for Jr’s VP, and appoints himself to that position. As the co-decider, he engineers a war that will lavish all kinds of goodies on his old company.

Well… since his shares in Halliburton are held in “trust”, I guess that he isn’t really a war profiteer himself.

This may account for some of what’s going on now, but the reasons go back longer than that. One of the reasons it’s nearly impossible to do independent oversight at the accounting level are changes implemented by Frank Carlucci in his one year as Sec. of Defense. He created a scheme whereby defense spending could be buried in other agencies of government, such as the GSA and the Dept. of Agriculture.

The ostensible reason for those rules was “efficiency,” but the actual purpose was to obscure DoD’s footprints in any spending allocated in that way. This is why, a couple of years ago, in the midst of Abu Ghraib scandals, when reporters went looking for the contract for some independent contractors associated with torturing people, they discovered that the company was hired through a GSA blanket contract covering IT services for the Army.

This is why the money being reported in the large defense appropriations bills is nowhere near the actual amount spent for defense. The Bureau of Economic Analysis (ever heard of them? I hadn’t until a year or so ago) does a line-by-line categorization of the annual budget every year and they found, in 2004, that defense-related spending amounted to 68% of the discretionary budget. And, since a lot of that spending goes directly into debt, it’s a major contributor to interest on the debt, which is now, once again, a major part of the discretionary budget. Figure in defense’s share of interest into the BEA’s totals for defense-related spending and the actual amount spent for defense in 2004, for example, was $810 billion.

Darkblack, what about a picture of Halliburton et al as pirates?

Things that make you go AAARRRRRRGGGGGHHH.

dratty @ 45

Apropos of nothing, I just gotta say that I got up a little while ago and opened this website and nearly shut it right up. I had not had my morning coffee yet and my eyes weren’t quite working and I thought that the headline read ‘A Little Morning Sartre’. I just wasn’t ready for existentilism this early.

I promise now. No FDL before coffee

I know, dratty. Killer, innit?

The NYT has a story up that is tied to the hearing, but after giving the hearing a single line, it goes on to focus on the story of a single ex-KBR trucker that is suing the company.

No slight to the trucker, but I suppose lining your pockets with billions doesn’t make a good story, in the eyes of the NYT.

If that don’t make you go “Arrgh!” then nothing will.

War profiteering was always part of the invasion plan for Iraq. However, before the war, we heard from Wolfowitz that the profiteering reconstruction effort would be financed from Iraq’s oil revenues. This seemed a much safer source than U.S. taxpayer’s money. IIRC Bush, in the early stages of the war, wanted to put a lid on U.S. reconstruction aid somewhere in the order of 2 Billion.

In the meantime, Iraqi oil revenues have been sagging and the initial plan was changed to miliking the U.S. taxpayers. The sad part in this is that war profitering is not a deplorable sidebenefit of the war, but it is central to the war planning.

Replacing the current makeup of Congress with a democratic majority will have to be faught hard against the interests of a multibillion war profiteering industry. There ought to be oodles of easy campaign money for anybody remotely connected to the Republican party. from the war profiteers.

The first thing the Democrats should do as a majority is create a Department of Investigations manned/womanned by those who will take the mission very seriously.

Yonna ‘nother toon?

(I right like this one.)

Anybody on the FDL legal staff able to comment on Halliburton’s claims of legal immunity? Apart from their non-informative informed consent papers sent to those injured, what is the basis for this claim? Caymun Islands tax free subsidiaries? Is is part of their government contracting language? Everyone in the hearing seemed shocked by it. How can they defy Congressional calls for documents and information?

I don’t see how anyone who watched this spectacle on Cspan yesterday could sit still for one moment of this outrage. Julie McBride and Edward Sanchez were especially compelling.

Sally @ 54

The first thing the Democrats should do as a majority is create a Department of Investigations manned/womanned by those who will take the mission very seriously.

staffed is such a gender-neutral word!

Didn’t the privitization of the military begin during Reagan?

Now, here’s another republican who TRULY knows how to talk like a pirate. A GOP NRCC spokesman talking about why the committee won’t return illegally raised money given them by Bob Ney,

“We are not returning the money,” NRCC spokesman Ed Patru told me.”

Shiver me timbers!

Old Sow @ 58

Didn’t the privitization of the military begin during Reagan?

That be piratization, me lass! We’ll throw the lot of ‘em in the brig, then make ‘em walk the plank! And we’ll keelhaul their Cap’n for good measure!

Arrrh!

meta @
44

The participants:

Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., Domestic Policy Cmte, Chair;
Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., Senate Democratic Leader;
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.;
Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M.;
Sen. Mark Dayton, D-Minn.;
Julie McBride, former Halliburton employee, Camp Fallujah, Iraq; Edward Sanchez, former Halliburton truck driver in Iraq;
Sean Larvenz, former Halliburton truck driver in Iraq;
Scott Allen, attorney of survivors of 2004 convoy attack;
Alan Grayson, attorney of Ms. McBride, seeking to recover misspent Halliburton funds

I was knocked out by Alan Grayson’s forthright condemnations of BushCo. He minced no words.
Christy, do you happen to recall the text of the historical quote (Lincoln?) Grayson used to hammer the issue to a head? It was so moving and right now I can’t for the life of me remember it. It’s a knockout and should be part of the information campaign. Must get coffee….

Will they be showing it again, and can anyone tape it? Oh, maybe I can order it on dvd from c-span. Looks like it’s going to take us showing it to our friends to get the word out. The biggest problem I’ve had is people asking why this stuff is not on the “news”. If I mention R ownership of the media, many have a tendency to roll their eyes.

And for our contingent from the Old Dominion . . .

The Senator’s Gentile Rebuke

By Dana Milbank
Tuesday, September 19, 2006; Page A02

First came Sen. George Allen’s Macaca Moment. Then we learned of challenger Jim Webb’s thoughts on the “horny” women of the Naval Academy.

Now, just when you thought Virginia’s U.S. Senate race couldn’t get any weirder, the Jews of Tunis are making a cameo. …

WaPo has a report on an official government inquiry report in Canada (by a judge) about the CIA grabbing an innocent Canadian (as he was changing planes in New York) and sending him to Syria where he was tortured for 10 months.

meta at 44– PDF warning– here is Grayson’s opening statement and if you scroll down to the end you will see those wonderful quotations!

http://democrats.senate.gov/dp.....rayson.pdf

Aaaargh and shiver me timbers, al-scooter. Keelhaulin’s too good for the whole lot of ‘em. And the poor oceans have enough pollution to deal with……..the brig after the Hague.

Driving by…fyi guys kind of on topic

Liquid explosive plot a fiction?

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2....._0918.html

War with Iran?

http://www.time.com/time/magaz.....17,00.html

Hm. What did I say to trigger those filters?

al-Scoots, as I live ‘n’ breathe — Arrrh backatcha, stranger!

ET -

What’s the latest on the FBI’s little visits to state legislative offices? Haven’t heard much lately, but don’t know whether that’s the lower 48’s ignorance of Alaska, or if the case is simply quiet for the time being.

meta @ 56

Anybody on the FDL legal staff able to comment on Halliburton’s claims of legal immunity? Apart from their non-informative informed consent papers sent to those injured, what is the basis for this claim? Caymun Islands tax free subsidiaries? Is is part of their government contracting language? Everyone in the hearing seemed shocked by it. How can they defy Congressional calls for documents and information?

I don’t see how anyone who watched this spectacle on Cspan yesterday could sit still for one moment of this outrage. Julie McBride and Edward Sanchez were especially compelling.

Not a legal type, but as I recall, Junior signed an executive order just before the start of the invasion which gave contractors in Iraq a lot of protection against both tort and criminal prosecution for activities in Iraq.

But, in this instance, Halliburton is likely referring to standard contractual boilerplate language, which won’t deter a good lawyer with proof of company negligence.

LindyH @ 64

Hm. What did I say to trigger those filters?

Not even the Shadow knows that, Lindy, but take it from me, they’re mighty particular.

WHOA! In researching Alan Grayson, I’ve found that he’s running in the Florida’s 8th District as a Democrat:
http://www.graysonforcongress.com/

Also, he links to an article that appeared in the WSJ by YOCHI J. DREAZEN on April 19, 2006. So let’s spotlight this piece by Christy and ask for some follow-up.

MsAnnaNOLA @ 62

Driving by…fyi guys kind of on topic

Liquid explosive plot a fiction?

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2....._0918.html

War with Iran?

http://www.time.com/time/magaz.....17,00.html

fyi– I sent Keith Olbermann an email and link to the RW story this morning and suggested that he pursue it as a follow-up to his Nexus of Politics & Terror commentary last month. If I get a response, I’ll post it here.

Sens. Leahy and Dorgan and Rep. Waxman have all introduced legislation to explicitly provide for stiffer penalties and more substantive oversight of war profiteering — but it has been voted down each and every time.

I love Byron Dorgan. Here is a guy from the reddest of red states, and he’s out there fighting Bush each and every day on issues that matter. And he’s up for reelection this year, and it’s not even close!

Dorgan shows how you can oppose Bush and stand up for what you believe in, even in a red states, and be popular.

So many are their insidious ways . . .

Wal-mart reaches out to employees in upcoming elections

RAW STORY
Published: Tuesday September 19, 2006

The nation’s largest retailer and biggest employer, Wal-Mart, will begin a program next week that will provide voter registration and educational materials to the company’s 1.3 million employees, the Capitol Hill newspaper The Hill is reporting. The Arkansas-based company has come under fire from labor union and Democratic leaders over issues such as hourly wages, legal status of employees, and benefits given to the company’s workers.

Democratic politicians including Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) have criticized Wal-Mart and its personnel policies. Wal-Mart representatives insist that the campaign is non-partisan.

Excerpts from The Hill article follow:

Definitely some WordPress glitchiness today. And the toobz, they are very slow. It could just be that the SF Roto-Toober-Rooters are still at work cleaning from Cheney’s local visit last week.

lotus @
61

And for our contingent from the Old Dominion . . .

The Senator’s Gentile Rebuke

By Dana Milbank
Tuesday, September 19, 2006; Page A02

First came Sen. George Allen’s Macaca Moment. Then we learned of challenger Jim Webb’s thoughts on the “horny” women of the Naval Academy.

Now, just when you thought Virginia’s U.S. Senate race couldn’t get any weirder, the Jews of Tunis are making a cameo. …

I read that first thing this morning and thanks for sharing it. I watched the debate twice and Allen’s fury when asked about his heritage was akin to the other George’s recent displays.

He is hiding something and why??? Will the CCC give him back his membership card? I don’t get it at all. It’s as though he uses his heritage only when it benefits him and denies it when it doesn’t. Not very honorable– he should be proud of his background!

Here’s another little something about Senator Georgie:

George Allen’s Twelve Days of Refusal
Reveals a lifetime of Good Ol’ Boy intolerance.

– Ira Forman

After seeing his lead in the Virginia Senate race drop by nearly 10 points in just 12 short days, Virginia Senator George Allen finally apologized last week to S.R. Sidarth for using the racial slur ‘macaca’ to describe the 21-year old Virginia native of Indian descent who is working on the Jim Webb for Senate campaign this summer.

For some, the use of a racial slur by a politician who thinks he is presidential material is absolutely shocking. But for those of us who know the real George Allen, the Senator’s use of a racial slur is just another example of his ‘Good Ol’ Boy’ intolerance.

http://www.pjvoice.com/v16/16101allen.html

the writer enumerates 12 things that will surely shiver some timbers!

Is this thread in honor of pirate day wrt the looting?

Money line in Dana Milbank’s article on the Allen-Webb debate:

Allen, surrounded by cameras and microphones after the event, hadn’t cooled down. “What do you mean, ‘make me so angry’?” he demanded angrily when asked why Fox’s query had made him so angry.

meta — 56

I have not delved deeply into th eissue, but it seem sthat they may have immunity for some actions they have taken, but not for everything. There are so manty criminal statutes that apply to the use of federal funds — including straight up money laundering statutes (property exchange plus a “specified unlawful actuivity” wirefraud leaps to mind) that any good prosecutor could cook their bacon for ever. My guess is that the “immunity” of which they speak is a Bush/Cheney promise not to prosecute.

Where is Spitzer when we REALLY need him….

meta — i was in moderation and left you something at 64.

Durbin hollering about waste, fraud and abuse right now on cspan2!

Dorgan up now!

Ed*ard Teller @
79

Money line in Dana Milbank’s article on the Allen-Webb debate:

Allen, surrounded by cameras and microphones after the event, hadn’t cooled down. “What do you mean, ‘make me so angry’?” he demanded angrily when asked why Fox’s query had made him so angry.

It is a doozy, aaarrrrgh.

lotus @ 66

al-Scoots, as I live ‘n’ breathe — Arrrh backatcha, stranger!

‘Mornin’, Miss Flowah!

I’m still in recovery mode after Saturday’s Big Event. The wedding went as perfectly as I could’ve imagined (huge props to Mrs. al-Scooter, and I said so when I led the toast), but we were involved in a traffic accident in Hollywood on the way to the rehearsal dinner on Friday. No one was hurt, though her van’s at the body shop for a while. I should save the details for when Jane and SteveAudio are around, as there are some only-in-Glitter-City aspects that seem a lot funnier now than then.

Anyway, I’m coping with more work (a good thing given the bar tab I had to sign at the end of Saturday), so I’m trying to squeeze in a few comments before work catches up with me again.

Rick Jacobs wrote about the hearing on the Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....29725.html

Pi -” What” - Squared? Long John?”

angie @
64

meta at 44– PDF warning– here is Grayson’s opening statement and if you scroll down to the end you will see those wonderful quotations!

http://democrats.senate.gov/dp.....rayson.pdf

angie, you saved my life once again!

Here is a snip:

A few months ago, the Wall Street Journal was kind enough to say that I am conducting a one-man war against contractor fraud against Iraq. I keep wondering when we will see reinforcements. President Bush twice took an oath of office to see that the laws are faithfully executed. Regarding fraud in Iraq, it is plain and simple – he has
violated that oath.

An earlier wartime President, Abraham Lincoln, had this to say about war profiteers, when he proposed enactment of the whistleblowers’ False Claims Act, seven score and three years ago:

“Worse than traitors in arms are the men who pretend loyalty to the flag, feast and fatten on the misfortunes of the Nation, while patriotic blood is crimsoning the plains of the South, and their countrymen moldering the dust.”

As Lincoln himself said, in the Gettysburg Address, it is far above my poor power to add or detract from this. But let history note that as patriotic blood is crimsoning the plains of the Sunni Triangle, and as our countrymen lie moldering in the dust, some at Halliburton, with their Super Bowl Parties and their stock options, feast and fatten on the misfortunes of this Nation while pretending nothing but loyalty to the flag.

Thank you.

Let’s spread the word. Thanks so much, angie.

Not that we need a reminder of crooked government at work, but here’s a link to last year’s story of career procurement official Bunny Greenhouse’s Demotion for calling foul on a Hallibutorn no-bid contract.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9118897/

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again… Halliglutton — Corporate America’s Jabba the Hut.

immanentize @ 75

meta — 56

I have not delved deeply into th eissue, but it seem sthat they may have immunity for some actions they have taken, but not for everything. There are so manty criminal statutes that apply to the use of federal funds — including straight up money laundering statutes (property exchange plus a “specified unlawful actuivity” wirefraud leaps to mind) that any good prosecutor could cook their bacon for ever. My guess is that the “immunity” of which they speak is a Bush/Cheney promise not to prosecute.

Where is Spitzer when we REALLY need him….

There was also a big debate over giving general immunity to all the contractors from Iraqi law once the new government was established. I know that they had that kind of immunity during the invasion-era, and I *think* that they were able to hold on to it during the present occupation.

Congrats scoot, and glad to hear everybody was ok.

Boy, that Felix is one touchy hombre! More from Milbank (emphasis where I couldn’t resist):

At a debate in Tysons Corner yesterday between Republican Allen and Democrat Webb, WUSA-TV’s Peggy Fox asked Allen, … “It has been reported that your grandfather Felix, whom you were given your middle name for, was Jewish. Could you please tell us whether your forebears include Jews and, if so, at which point Jewish identity might have ended?”

Allen recoiled as if he had been struck. His supporters in the audience booed and hissed. “To be getting into what religion my mother is, I don’t think is relevant,” Allen said, furiously. “Why is that relevant — my religion, Jim’s religion or the religious beliefs of anyone out there?”

“Honesty, that’s all,” questioner Fox answered, looking a bit frightened.

“Oh, that’s just all? That’s just all,” the senator mocked, pressing his attack. He directed Fox to “ask questions about issues that really matter to people here in Virginia” and refrain from “making aspersions.”

“Let’s move on,” proposed the moderator, George Stephanopoulos of ABC News.

Yes, let’s — but not before we figure out what that was all about. Turns out the Forward, a Jewish newspaper, reported that the senator’s mother, Etty, “comes from the august Sephardic Jewish Lumbroso family” and continued: “If both of Etty’s parents were born Jewish — which, given her age and background, is likely — Senator Allen would be considered Jewish in the eyes of traditional rabbinic law, which traces Judaism through the mother.”

If that’s true, the Presbyterian Allen joins public figures Madeleine Albright and John Kerry in discovering his Jewish roots. Of the three, the 6-foot-4-inch Allen, a down-home former college quarterback known for opposing laws to keep children out of the back of pickups, seems the least likely candidate for inclusion among the Chosen People. It would be no more surprising to learn that Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) has Southern Baptist ancestry.

Fox’s question, while a matter of some intrigue, seemed out of place in the debate, which focused on more urgent matters such as Iraq. But Allen turned on the questioner with ferocity. He may have been irked that the question was a follow-up to one noting that “macaca” was a racial slur that his mother may have learned in Tunisia. He may have been concerned that Jewish roots wouldn’t play well in parts of Virginia.

Or he may just have been in a quarreling mood. Allen protested frequently when Stephanopoulos tried to move the debate along. “I thought we had rebuttal,” the senator complained at one point, tossing down his pen. He voiced suspicions at one questioner’s motives, accused another of contradicting himself, and charged Webb with “continuing to degrade and disrespect women.”

But that was nothing compared with what Allen gave Fox.

The anchor may have thought she had license to pop the Jewish question when Allen, reacting to the “macaca” question, volunteered that his grandfather “was incarcerated by the Nazis in World War II.”

Citing reports about his “possible Jewish ancestry,” Fox questioned Allen’s past denial that his mother is Jewish.

“I’m glad you all have that reaction,” Allen said to the audience as people jeered the questioner. Allen lectured Fox about the importance of “freedom of religion and not making aspersions about people because of their religious beliefs.”

In between his heckling of Fox, Allen reported that “my mother is French-Italian with a little bit of Spanish blood in her, and I’ve been raised, and she was, as far as I know, raised as a Christian.” That’s not inconsistent with the Forward report, which said the Lumbrosos, forcibly converted in Portugal, escaped to Livorno and became traders with branches in Tunis.

[…]

Fox said her motive was curiosity. “I thought it was important to find out is this part of his heritage, because if it is nobody knows it. Do you deny part of your heritage for political reasons?”

Allen, surrounded by cameras and microphones after the event, hadn’t cooled down. “What do you mean, ‘make me so angry’?” he demanded angrily when asked why Fox’s query had made him so angry.

“To make whatever sort of comment that was, you just don’t judge people by their ethnicity or their religion,” Allen said, fuming that Fox would “drag my mother into this.” The senator said his mother was the one who taught him about tolerance. “Because,” he repeated, “my mother’s father was incarcerated by the Nazis in World War II.”

‘Scuse the typos in my last comment. I wanted to get this in before diving into ODOL* this morning.

*Ordinary Details of Living

angie - I think Allen’s fury is related to the fact that if his mother is Jewish, he would be considered to be Jewish as well, as Jews believe that Jewish identity descends from the the mother, not the father. I’m guessing he could kind of/sort of handle having a Jewish parent, but not if it makes him Jewish…and I’m guessing he knows it is only a matter of time before Jewish Virginians address the issue.

He made a point to say he was raised Christian, which I’m not sure makes any difference in this case. Orthodox Jews believe that not even converting to the Christian faith eliminates one’s Jewish identity if derived from one’s mother.

*ilson46201 (57),’womanned” was a bit of a snark.

An unlikely question our intrepid reporters would ask our child president: Have you viewed videos of “interrogation” proceedings that involved “techniques” you approve of such as waterboarding, extreme temperature exposure, nakeness etc? If you viewed them, did you determine that these “techniques” did not constitute torture & were just a step up from branding frat brothers?