It's Still "Stay the Course"

One can just imagine Dicko Cheney bucking up George, telling him he must be "resolute." It's so easy for Dicko to manipulate George's megalomaniac vision of his destiny.

That is why it is well to heed Eugene Robinson's note of caution about George of Arabia's willingness to take a sane approach to the tragic war in Iraq.... "Resolute Amid the Wreckage." (WaPo)

After all, White House spokesman Tony Snow told us just yesterday where George's presidential advisers are coming from.... "There is no debate right now on withdrawing forces right now from Iraq."

So, the public may be debating, the media may be debating, the Senate may be debating.... but George has gone bike riding.

Oh, George will tell us about a new plan, maybe even a draw down to the levels before the surge, or shuffle the troops that are on deck.... but, listen to what Snow also said.... "The conversation is always about what do you do to succeed in Iraq."

"Being 'resolute' is all that matters."

Bush's Backdoor Exit

You can lead an elephant to water, but you can't make him drink.... or think.... or listen.

That was the case when national security advisor Stephen Hadley trekked to Capitol Hill last week to meet with senior Iraq-defecting GOP senators.

" 'Scouting' the Hill on Iraq" is how Hadley described his mission.... a "scouting trip."

It soon became apparent, however, that he wasn't scouting for exit strategy answers. In fact, some senators were left with the impression that "the White House still does not recognize the scope of the Iraq dilemma. Worse yet, they see the president running out the clock until April, when a depleted U.S. military can be blamed for the fiasco." Robert Novak (WaPo)

The military will run out of troops in about 9 months, and The Decider is letting this happen while evidently shunning an honorable exit plan.

A four-star general summed up the mood in White House.... "hawks within the administration, including Vice President Cheney, remain more powerful than the pragmatists looking for an exit strategy in Iraq."

So, just when you thought the White House gang couldn't go any lower, they find a new bottom to their Iraq agenda cesspool. Decimate the ranks, and then blame the military.

Their exit strategy will come when scout Hadley finally has to admit, "they went that-a way" as cowards Bush and Cheney sneak out of the backdoor of the White House.... making their git away while leaving a grieving nation in shambles.

Where's the Congressional sheriff?

Iraq Government on the Verge....

CBS News exclusively reported yesterday that the Iraq government is now in crisis.

Senior Iraqi leaders are demanding a drastic change. On July 15 they plan to ask for a no-confidence vote in the Iraqi parliament.... with the end game being to bring down the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

The largest block of Sunni politicians.... part of a broad political alliance called the Iraq Project.... want a new government run by "ministers who are appointed for their expertise, not their party loyalty."

Wow! Can we get these guys to D.C.?

"Closed Door" Cheney discussed this Iraq Project with Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi on his most recent visit to Baghdad. Hashimi made it clear that cosmetic changes only aren't acceptable, "what we need is much bigger than that," he warned.

So.... since the White House knows about the impending instability in the central government, what has been their response?

"Administration Shaving Yardstick for Iraq Gains.... Goals Unmet; Smaller Strides to Be Promoted." (WaPo)

That's right, they are lowering the bar. The White House when selling the surge (did you know it's called the Phantom Thunder offensive?) assured that it would allow the government of Maliki to "take responsibility for security in all of Iraq's provinces by November."

However, their interim July report that was demanded by Congress will "boast" that Iraqi political leaders managed last month to agree on a unified response to the bombing of a major religious shrine.

And just how many lives of our troops was that worth?

It's probably hard to put out a report on Maliki's progress when the administration knows full well that he's likely to be given the unceremonious boot.

The fine hand of the Saudi royals can be seen in this overthrow move. They are uneasy with an increasingly powerful Shiite Iran and the dangerous ineffectiveness of Maliki's Shiite-dominated government. The Saudis may be the real "Phantom" behind a move to oust Maliki.

But we're left in the dark to only speculate. As one top administration official reflected privately.... "The heart of darkness is the president.... Nobody knows what he thinks, even the people who work for him."

That's because Bush is waiting for the soul of darkness Cheney to whisper in his ear. And, his whispers have the force of "Thunder" in the empty head of shallow boy George.

Blue Marble Rocks!

It's really hard to understand why global warming naysayers are so adamantly opposed to efforts to increase environmental awareness.

Even if the effect of man on global warming is minimal, what's the harm in conserving energy and helping to preserve our "Big Blue Marble."

It really doesn't make sense.... unless those naysayers are beholden to the polluters like big oil. Even so, don't they have their own children and grandchildren's future best interests to think about? Why not do our best for them?

Why vilify Al Gore and his worldwide crusade to do something about man's contribution to global warming.... why not just relax and enjoy his Live Earth concert series today.

After many setbacks to find a venue in D.C., including the GOP blocking attempts to have the concert on the Capitol grounds calling it a "partisan political event," Gore has now had the last, and very fitting, laugh.

The D.C. venue will be the National Museum of the American Indian... where and who better to appreciate and try to preserve Mother Earth.... featuring performances by Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood and many Native American groups including the Blues Nation from Oklahoma.

So, on this very hot summer day.... kick back, and be entertained by the likes of Kelly Clarkson, Alicia Keys, Keith Urban, Kanye West and Bon Jovi (New Jersey); Madonna, Genesis, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Foo Fighters and Beastie Boys (London); and, many others from concerts in places like Tokyo, Shanghai, Berlin, Johannesburg, Rio de Janeiro, and Sydney.

Tune into Bravo all day, NBC tonight, or webcasts at http://liveearth.msn.com/.

The Gift That Keeps Giving

It wasn't the birthday present he wanted. "Key GOP Senator Breaks With Bush."

Today, as The Decider turns 61....SURPRISE!.... Republican party loyalist and former staunch supporter of the Iraq war, Sen. Pete Domenici (NM) called for an "immediate change in U.S. strategy that could end combat operations by spring." (WaPo)

He joins powerful Republican defectors Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN), the leading Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who declared that the "current path" in U.S. Iraq policy is not acceptable; Sen. John W. Warner (R-VA), the former chairman of the Armed Services Committee, who praised Lugar's speech; and Sen. George Voinovich (OH) who sent The Decider a letter calling for withdrawing the troops.

These mutineers are scrambling to get ahead of the wave of citizen protest that is swamping the White House, attempting to outmaneuver Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) who plans proposals to cut off funding and set a firm withdrawal date.

In the meantime, Sen. Ken Salazar (D-CO) introduced a Iraq Study Group measure, and Domenici has already endorsed that proposal along with ten other co-sponsors including six Republicans.

It appears the Senate may at last commute the open-ended Iraq sentence imposed on America by The Decider .... SURPRISE!, our troops will start coming home!

Extravagant Embassy Boondoggle

Boondoggle: A project funded by the federal government out of political favoritism that is of no real value to the community or the nation.

What struck me about WaPo's Special Report "Construction Woes Add to Fears at Embassy in Iraq" wasn't so much that this was just another contractor rip-off in Iraq, but the fact that it's a "$592 million project to build the largest embassy in the world."

The largest embassy in the world!

Why are we building the largest and most obscenely costly embassy in the world in unstable, war-torn, tribal feuding, terrorist saturated Iraq?

It will never be "safe" even without already worrying construction flaws in the 21 building embassy being cobbled together by a Kuwaiti contractor.

The guard base, a vital first-completion facility in that neighborhood, is uninhabitable with wiring problems, fuel leaks and noxious fumes in the sleeping trailers.... in general, "Poor quality construction....life safety issues."

Just what was the fix suggested for the formaldehyde fumes permeating the 252 prefabricated residential trailers built by a Saudi trailer manufacturer? The company confirmed it had used the toxic chemical in preparing the housing, and suggested the embassy keep the windows open and use charcoal in the rooms to absorb the odor.

How many millions did those trailers cost?

There's much, much more.... but you get the idea. The administration is throwing money around to Middle East buddy-buddy contractors for substandard work without proper oversight. For this White House, business as usual.

Regardless, the State Department is in a rush to complete the embassy this year.... guess The Decider wants to fit it into his legacy.

Which leads to the perfect solution for this "white elephant" enterprise.... why not make it the George W. Bush Presidential Library.

Freedom from Tyranny

The 4th of July!

A day where we should be able to look to our leaders to inspire, and uphold the vision of our founding fathers, who took a stand for freedom and the self-evident truths embodied in their Declaration of Independence.

Today the Flag still waves, the fireworks still awe, and the bands still march.... but most citizens don't look to the White House, Congress, or the Justice Department for principled leadership. By their base actions they have sullied the idealism embodied in that ringing declaration.

We are painfully aware of the unequal treatment under the law doled out by President Bush and his Justice Department, but John Fabian Witt today reminds us of another abandoned precept in, "A Declaration The President Ignores." (WaPo)

That precept is that war ought to be governed by law.

"In late June 1776, as the first detachments of what was to become a sizable British force were landing 90 miles away in New York, Thomas Jefferson and the Continental Congress in Philadelphia drew up charges denouncing King George III to the world. The accusations were to serve as the core of the declaration. The climatic final charges, for which the rest were prologue, indicted the king for war crimes."

Since then the United States has aligned itself with the rules of warfare.... the 1780s treaty with Prussia.... Abraham Lincoln's code for the Union Army.... Franklin Roosevelt's guidance in establishing the Nuremberg tribunal for German war criminals and his aides who wrote the U.N. charter's rules for the use of force.... and the international law regarding combatants, civilians and mercenaries embodied in the Third Geneva Convention's rules on prisoners of war.

Sadly, we've had to bear witness as our present King George has morphed into British King George III. Under the guise of national security, he has drug our nation into the muddy pits of Guantanamo, secret CIA prisons, Abu Ghraib and even "formalized" torture.

As a result, King George has fueled the rise of terrorist recruitment, has isolated us and tarnished our reputation in the eyes of the world.... what the Declaration calls "the Opinions of Mankind."

This day as we celebrate the courage it took to declare our independence in 1776, let's vow to regain that courage and declare our own independence from the tyranny of King George and his minions.

Tell them loud and clear.... "We're taking back our country!"

Bush's Criminal Compassion

"Compassionate Conservative" is how candidate George W. Bush defined himself in 2000 and vowed that if made president "politics, after a time of tarnished ideals, can be higher and better"

We now know Bush isn't a conservative. Conservative "values" like fiscal responsibility, avoidance of nation building and tough enforcement of the law have been trampled under King George's buckled boot.

But, it's the compassion part of his self-description that is the most stunningly perverted. He has no compassion for our military.... kept at his almost lone insistence in the crossfire of tribal hatreds in Iraq.

Or, for border agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean who are in prison serving sentences of 11 and 12 years for wounding a fleeing drug runner who was given immunity to testify against them. Bush has rejected all pleas that he reduce their sentences or grant them pardons.

But, Bush has bestowed his selective compassion on convicted perjurer "Scooter" Libby by commuting his 30-month prison sentence.

Libby, Vice President Cheney's alter-ego chief of staff, was convicted of lying to a grand jury and federal agents and obstructing justice in the investigation of the leak of the name of a covert CIA operative whose husband tried to unmask the Big Lie of intelligence manipulation.... manipulated intelligence used by the White House as the battering ram of justification for the bloody, costly and unwinnable Iraq war.

And, even as egregious as Libby's commutation is, even more so was the way Bush did it.... without even a nod to precedence or evenhanded justice. It was "A Decision Made Largely Alone." (WaPo)

For this crony, Bush short-circuited the legal system. He didn't run the request for commuting Libby's sentence through the lawyers at the Justice Department, nor even ask the chief prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, for his input.

A disgusted Fitzgerald rejected Bush's action saying "Before the bar of justice all should be equal." It's now obvious, for King George's brand of justice, some are more equal than others.... and his "higher ideals" is shorthand for highhanded expediency in the pursuit of his agenda.

King George has made it abundantly clear, he's not just outside and above the law.... he is the law.

GOP Splinters

Are the Senate Republicans stalled, their leadership sails slack as they bob about in the legislative doldrums?

So says Robert D. Novak in his "McConnell's Immigration Failure." (WaPo)

While Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid (D-NV) was up to his elbows in dirty deeds, convoluting the rules of procedure and twisting arms trying to pass The Decider's amnesty for illegal aliens bill, Bush's Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell (KY) was not only above the fray.... he ended up voting against it, and "abandoned his post, staying off the floor during final stages of the debate."

As it turns out, the fury of the switchboard-crashing number of calls coming into the Senate, threatening to never again vote for anyone supporting "amnesty," changed the minds of some GOP senators facing reelection, like McConnell.

So it seems McConnell faced the music and voted against the bill.... music conservative columnist Novak sees as a sour note, "It is difficult to exaggerate the pessimism about the immediate political future voiced by Republicans in Congress when not on the record."

Seems like Novak needs to quit talking only to Bushistas, and instead listen to Republican senators like Jim DeMint (SC) who didn't support the legislation and exulted in an email to supporters.... "We did it."

Even Republican former House speaker Newt Gingrich, who may yet throw his hat into the presidential ring, told contributors that the vote was "a soaring victory for the American people" in the defeat of the "Bush-Kennedy-McCain bill."

These are strange times, unexplored waters for many GOP politicians.... the party of political discipline that heeded President Reagan's admonition to speak no ill of another Republican.... an open break with their party leader and president.

It will be interesting to see if GOP supporters of the legislation who didn't change their vote despite the loud and intense pressure of their constituents... Lindsey Graham (SC) who is up for reelection, and presidential candidate John McCain (AZ).... will pay the price in 2008. One can only hope so.

The U.S. voters should find joy, not the reflected dejection of Novak or the gloomy outlook of McConnell who tried to have it both ways by trying to appease Bush while justifying his defection.... "This isn't a day to celebrate.... It wasn't the people's will. And they were heard."

You bet we were heard!

Let freedom ring

Speak Out America!

Congressman James McDermott (D-Wash.), speaking June 28 from the floor of the House, now joining with an expanding number of other lawmakers, told Vice President Dick Cheney to "resign or face impeachment".

McDermott said, "The Vice President holds himself above the law and it is time for Congress to enforce the law,"....."Why debate, when you can dictate? Why follow the law, when you can act like you are above the law"......"(Cheney) holds himself accountable to no one"......"I have seen the Vice President repeatedly drive our nation into increasingly dire situations, in Iraq, in Iran, and within our own country as he tramples over the Constitution like it is a doormat."

Americans wake up, be heartened!!!.....all who have become rock-bottom disaffected with the Bush administration's dishonesty and secrecy over the past six years. This is what can be done.

The U.S. Congress has a duty to watch over the health and integrity of our nation and the public has that same duty. We all have cowered and remained silent too long about the destructiveness brought by this administration.

Rep. McDermott admonished in his speech from the House floor, "The intent of this administration, and this vice president, has been to silence all dissent,"...."Fear is what (has) kept this administration in office"....."fear is the only public discourse this administration understands — and practices."

Congress needs to hear the will of the people and to feel our support NOW! Cheney will neither resign or be impeached (Bush will be next) unless the American public places demands on our Congressional leaders to take swift and appropriate action!

By Guest Contributor

Independent on Independence Day

Independence Day this year is more than just fireworks and brats on the grill.... it also marks a growing independence in the electorate.

A new, in-depth study by The Washington Post in collaboration with the Kaiser Foundation and Harvard University, finds that a "broad segment of the electorate - about three in 10 voters" call themselves Independents and could well be the power brokers of 2008.

Putting things into perspective usually means 3-D.... in the case of Independents, the study puts them into focus with 5 Ds:

Deliberators... classic swing voters. They may not decide until the curtain closes.

Disillusioned... there must be hordes of these. They think the parties are but two heads of the same dangerous political monster.

Dislocated... no one party fits their social-fiscal outlook. Remember when the GOP was fiscally conservative?

Disguised... wingers on the left and right. So far out on the limb they can no longer see the tree.

Disengaged... "There's going to be an election?"

The voter category that worries me the most is "Disengaged." They are about 25 percent of all independents and are the youngest of any group.... four in ten are younger than 30. It's their future that's the most on the line in 2008.

It's maddening that the political odor emanating from our so-called political leaders distances the very people their actions will most impact.

So, which party or political candidate benefits from the trend toward independence?

Not former House speaker Newt Gingrich. Two-thirds would definitely not vote for him. New York Mayor Bloomberg if he runs as an Independent? Maybe half, while a third said definitely not.

One is left with the impression that there is a great muddle of voters out there milling around and muttering "Who to trust... who to trust."

They are shell-shocked by the deceptions of The Decider and his partner in crime, "Closed-door" Cheney, and their Constitution-gutting, inept cabinet and congressional enablers from both parties.... a host of good-ol'-boy bureaucratic big spenders and bumblers.

Today, Independents are waving the flag, weighing their options and withholding their support.... for now.

"W" Doesn't Stand For Wisdom

"Bush Defends Military Buildup in Iraq" (WaPo) President Bush called for patience with his Iraq surge operations.... "we're seeing some hopeful signs."

"The great enemy of truth is very often not the lie... deliberate, contrived and dishonest... but the myth... persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic. Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." John F. Kennedy

"Six Members of Sunni Bloc Quit Iraq Cabinet in Protest" (WaPo) ... The Sunnis have a sense of alienation within Iraq's Shiite-dominated government. And, the "lack of progress on important legislation, coupled with the failure to reconcile with minority Sunnis, ranks among the greatest obstacles to stability in Iraq."

"In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved." Franklin Roosevelt

"Democrats Plan to Press GOP on Iraq" (WaPo) After the 4th of July break, Senate and House Democrats intend to demand greater accountability from Bush and the Iraqi government with binding troop-withdrawal timelines.... "they will offer weekly votes to force Republicans, and the president, to defend the war."

"Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president." Theodore Roosevelt.

"Bush Is Told to Justify Executive Privilege" (WaPo).... The White House invoked executive privilege to block the release of documents surrounding the firing of U. S. Attorneys. The chairmen of the House and Senate Judiciary committees accused the administration of a "veil of secrecy.... unprecedented and damaging to the tradition of open government."

"I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crises. The great point is to bring them the real facts." Abraham Lincoln

"Justices to Weigh Detainee Rights" (WaPo) Yesterday the Supreme Court reversed an earlier decision and will now consider whether Guantanamo Bay detainees have been "unfairly barred from the federal courts by the Bush Administration and Congress."

"...And there is distrust in Washington. I am surprised, frankly, at the amount of distrust that exists in this town. And I'm sorry it's the case, and I'll work hard to try to elevate it." George W. Bush

Pres. Cheney: Depends What "Is" Is

It was left to Tricky Dick's Chief of Staff, David Addington, to parse the argument for why his boss falls between all of the accountability cracks.

Here's Addington's spin.... "Given that the executive order treats the Vice President like the President rather than like an 'agency' it is not necessary in these circumstances to address the subject of any alternative reasoning, based on the law and the legislative functions of the vice presidency....." (WaPo)

Ummmmmm, think I get it. Since Tricky Dick actually is the President, the order doesn't apply.

Well, at least now it's out in the open.

Actually, this tortured "I"m outside the law" reasoning has already been rejected by the director of the National Archives Information and Security Oversight Office, William Leonard.

You go Leonard!

Bush Bandwagon Loses Steam

There's good news.... and since good news is about as rare these days as a non-political Justice Department decision, we'll run with it.

There are a few U.S. Senators who are well-respected by other U.S. Senators, and Richard Lugar (R-IN) is one of them. Up until now, he's been in lockstep with The Decider on the Iraq War. Well, he's now broken ranks. He says the Iraq plan is not working. (WaPo)

And, rather than wait for the stalling September date to hear once again that the administration is going to "stay the course," yesterday Lugar announced on the Senate floor: "In my judgment, the costs and risks of continuing down the current path outweigh the potential benefits that might be achieved..... Persisting indefinitely with the surge strategy will delay policy adjustments that have a better chance of protecting our vital interests over the long term"

Although lauding Lugar's change of heart, in a transparent attempt to look in charge of events, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) plans to force votes on several anti-war proposals although they are expected to fall short of the 60 votes needed.

He thinks that is what frustrated voters want. It isn't. Such voter pandering only keeps the Senate polarized and sends moderate voices scurrying back to party safety.

Instead, the next step should be to get other influential Iraq war voices like Sen. John Warner (R-VA) to join Lugar's, and to get behind a plan such as Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) is putting forward for a federalized Iraq that is currently enjoying bipartisan support.

Maybe voters could propose a deal, if the Republicans get rid the scary Dick Cheney, the Democrats will replace Reid as majority leader. As far fetched as that may sound, Cheney is the subject of the next piece of good news.

There is a GOP plan afoot to oust Tricky Dick. In an article by Sally Quinn in WaPo, she reports that Cheney is viewed by many Republicans as toxic, dangerous and a net minus for the party going into next year's elections.

The showdown would unfold something like this.... senior Republican message carriers led by someone like Sen. Warner.... a la Barry Goldwater who went to the White House and told President Nixon he had to go.... would lay the words on Cheney.

Look for this possible move this summer when Cheney is scheduled for surgery to replace his pacemaker.... after which he may have to leave office amid much regretful fanfare.... doctor's orders don't you know.

The person being mentioned as his replacement is ex-Senator Fred Thompson. Talk about getting a leg up on positioning for the presidential race. We'll find out this summer if Cheney needs to spend more time with his family and Fred is the anointed one.

And, if you can stand it, another piece of good news. "Ex-Aides Break With Bush on 'No Child'."

Even as The Decider urged lawmakers to renew his fatally flawed No Child Left Behind program, his former aides who helped craft and implement his education initiative are speaking out against the law. One aide, Eugene Hickok, now says he always had second thoughts, and feels the lawmakers should step back and "see if there are other ways to solve the problem."

The messages are loud and clear.... The Decider's decisions stink. The Iraq war, No Child Left Behind, even his choice for Vice President have imperiled our country.

Now, if the Senate can just find the fortitude to go against their corporate masters, The Decider's immigration and North American Union schemes can be thwarted, and perhaps the country can start to limp back toward some sort of non-ideological sanity.

A final word, just to prove that nonpartianship is possible. Like Howard Kurtz, WaPo staff writer, a recent remark by the GOP stiletto-mouth, Ann Coulter on "Good Morning America" took my breath away.

Referring to The Decider, she slashed: "We're all just waiting for this nincompoop to be gone."

Amen, Ann. Amen.

Supremes Weaken Wall

The protective wall of separation between Church and State took a big hit today.... "Court Bars Suits Against Faith-Based Initiatives." (WaPo)

The Supreme Court ruled that taxpayers cannot challenge the constitutionality of the White House faith-based initiative program that helps religious groups obtain government funding for their social programs.

The decision states that "ordinary taxpayers do not have standing" to make such a challenge.

Using the type of dodge that VP Cheney is using.... that he isn't a part of the Executive Branch of government and thus isn't accountable.... the White House winning argument was that taxpayers lacked standing because the faith-based initiatives office was not specifically funded by Congress.

By this lawyerly device, the intent of the Constitutions First Amendment.... that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion".... was set aside by five of the nine Supremes because the funds come "from Executive Branch appropriations."

In the dissenting opinion of Justice David Souter, he wrote that the ruling "closes the door on these taxpayers because the Executive Branch, and not the Legislative Branch, caused their injury.... I see no basis for this distinction in either logic or precedent...."

The Decider and Tricky Dick don't need logic, precedent, the Constitution or the rule of law.... they've taken on the power of dictators, and our Congress is too timid, or too culpable, to stand up to them.

Who Likes Mike?

Ed Rollins likes Mike.

This ex-Ross Perot campaigner just can't help himself, he likes mavericks and cheers former NY mayor Bloomberg on in "Come on In, Mike. It Could Be a Wild Ride."

Changing horses from Republican to Independent has worked successfully before, but only at the state level. Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) did it in the last election after the Democratic primary voters threw him out because of his pro-Iraq war, Bush-hugging ways.

So what are Bloomberg's chances? Rollins insightfully reviews and compares other Independent candidate campaigns and decides.... "Bully for Bloomberg."

You Go Joe!

One presidential candidate has long advocated a different approach to Iraq war policy, Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del). With the elections looming, pressure is building on The Decider to look at policy options.... "Bush aides consider Iraq truce at Capitol." (LATimes)

".... some senior administration officials - including Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad - have been quietly talking with lawmakers about how to adjust policy in the months ahead. Among other ideas, they have discussed whether the United States should advocate a sharply decentralized Iraq, a notion that has seen a resurgence on Capitol Hill."

"A sharply decentralized Iraq" .... called a federal system of government.... is what Biden has been advocating. Proponents of this idea, which is favored by an unusually broad bipartisan group of senators, were brought together this month by Biden, who is the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.

On a recent trip to Iraq, Gates reflected that "Perhaps we have gotten too focused on the central government, and not enough on the provinces and on the tribes and what is happening in those areas."

Now, we'll see if a childish Decider can climb down from his Iraq-policy hobby horse and listen to the grownups.


Don't hold your breath.

EU Takes a Detour

The European Union still needs a constitution because the countries can't agree on a unifying structure. It's proposed constitution is the across-the-pond version of our Homeland Security Department.... "an unwieldy, bureaucratic entity run by leaders far removed from the European people." (WaPo)

But, if el Presidente Bush has his way he'll barge forward with his own unifying plan, to wed our already unworkable corporista government to the corrupted and dangerous drug-warlord land of Mexico and a Canada with attitude.... the North American Union, his legacy.

In a Rovian move, the EU leaders are making an end run around the constitution concept, and instead are offering a "treaty" to its 27 capitals. Even this treaty was resisted, so some of its symbolism was removed, such as an EU anthem. "My Countries Tis of Thee".... er "Those".... er "Them".... just didn't work.

But, the original intent is still there. The treaty sets out rules for the future enlargement of the EU.

Our el Presidente Bush is taking notes. Expect a North American Treaty in the near future.

Bush Trashes Our Inheritance

Timothy Egan makes these sad observations..... "I drove through the Gifford Pinchot National Forest on my way to climb Mount Hood, and found the place in tatters. Roads are closed, or in disrepair. Trails are washed out. The campgrounds, those that are open, are frayed and unkempt. It looks like the forestry equivalent of a neighborhood crack house." (The New York Times)

A century ago, it was the vision of president Teddy Roosevelt and his first chief of the Forest Service Gifford Pinchot, both rich men, that unlike Europe where only the lords of privilege enjoyed nature, in this country everyone could enjoy the outdoors.

Roosevelt and Pinchot stood for the every man, and against the interests of railroads, timber barons, mine owners.... and helped established our 565 million-acre birthright.

Then came The Decider.

"In the Pinchot woods, you see the George W. Bush public lands legacy. If you want to drill, or cut trees, or open a gas line - the place is yours. Most everything else has been trashed or left to bleed to death."

The national wildlife system, started by Roosevelt, has been gutted by The Decider who has systematically reduced the budget to where this year more than 200 refuges could be unstaffed.

The Bureau of Land Management was given the green light by The Decider early in his administration to allow drilling for gas and oil.... his first priority.

Forest Service policy is set by an ex-timber industry insider and the budget has been cut once again, while the Interior Department had been run by a former coal lobbyist... until he plead guilty to obstruction of justice.

For The Decider, our beautiful public lands are nothing more than assets to be exploited by his corporate buddies.... the new landlords of our government.

"Roosevelt had his place on Oyster Bay. Pinchot had a family estate in Pennsylvania. Bush has the ranch in Crawford. Only one of them has never been able to see beyond the front porch."

Classify Cheney as "Arrogant"

Make it disappear......

Is this an order from Tony Soprano to his crew? In a sense.

Same mob secrecy, same ruthless response to being crossed.... the office of Vice President Cheney "has refused to comply with an executive order governing the handling of classified information for the past four years and recently tried to abolish the office that sought to enforce those rules..." (WaPo)

In 2004, when the Archives' Information Security Oversight Office tried to conduct an on-site inspection of Cheney's office to see how sensitive material was handled, they were blocked by his crew.

This January the Archives Director, William Leonard, wrote Attorney General Gonzales asking him to render a legal ruling on whether Cheney is violating the executive order. Gonzales has not replied.

Of course not, he's too busy throwing law-enforcing border agents in prison and politicizing the Justice Department.

Under this executive order, which mandates a uniform system for safeguarding government classified information, an "entity within the executive branch that comes into possession of classified information" must report each year how much it is keeping secret.

For over six years an arrogant Cheney has kept his actions from public scrutiny.... like refusing to name the industry executives who advised his energy task force, or giving up Secret Service logs showing who visits his office or official residence.... even the costs and other details about his travel.

Snarly Cheney obviously has a lot to hide. As evidenced by the conviction for perjury and obstruction of justice by his chief lieutenant, Scooter Libby, who is probably taking the fall for Cheney's misdeeds and directions.

Maybe Cheney has forgotten that he works for us.... that he can't decide which documents to withhold from our view and knowledge.

Shine a light into Cheney's murky den.