After almost three years of ongoing political writing, I have decided to take a break and suspend regular updates of BobGeiger.com for a few months. As I said previously, this will give me time to recharge my batteries, get back in good shape physically and determine the best way that I can contribute to taking back the White House and extending Democratic leads in the Congress in 2008.
But it is not good-bye and, while it's gratifying to receive such a large number of e-mails from readers fearing that I may be gone for good, let me reiterate that this is not the case.
I'm too stubborn to just go away… This is simply the right time for me to take better care of myself and to examine new ways that I can work within the Progressive media.
So be of good cheer! Your support is greatly appreciated and I'll be back.
Meantime, if you would like to plug in your e-mail address below, I'd be happy to keep you posted via my Google group on what comes next. Don't worry, it will only be for significant news and not ongoing (and unwanted) e-mail.
A Time For True Leadership: Chris Dodd for President
What should have been a watershed moment in the race for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination occurred last month in a debate sponsored by MSNBC in which moderator Tim Russert asked the candidates if they would "…pledge that by January 2013, the end of your first term, more than five years from now, there will be no U.S. troops in Iraq."
What came next from the media-anointed "leaders" in the Democratic field was a festival of ass-covering and hedging in which Hillary Clinton said that "it is very difficult to know what we're going to be inheriting" in backing away from the pledge, Barack Obama opined that "it's hard to project four years from now" in refusing to commit and John Edwards flat-out said "I cannot make that commitment."
Bear in mind that Russert was not asking if the presidential contenders would advocate withdrawing troops that week, the following month or even sometime in 2008. He was simply asking if they would commit to ending a war that has nothing to do with America's national security -- except in making us demonstrably less safe -- is killing our troops, bankrupting our nation and destroying our global reputation and if they would do that within the next half a decade.
Cue crickets chirping and silence from the three primary-poll leaders.
Russert then turned to Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut and said flatly "I want to put you on the record. Will you pledge, as Commander-in-Chief, that you'll have all troops out of Iraq by January of 2013?"
"I will get that done," said Dodd firmly.
"You'll get it done?" clarified Russert.
"Yes, I will, sir," said Dodd.
Period. End of story.
Dodd pointed out after that debate that the most "remarkable" thing about the response to Russert's direct question was that, "The so-called leading candidates were unwilling to say whether they would have our troops out of that country by 2013."
"The idea that we could be embroiled in combat for at least another five years should set off alarm bells for anyone with a modicum of foreign policy experience," said Dodd. "Sacrificing American lives to engage in a civil war is a deeply corrupt strategy and one I have been working to combat in Congress. I call on my fellow candidates to help me bring an end to this war long before 2013 - we need to end this war now before it passes Vietnam as the longest war in American history."
Perhaps it’s a dismal sign of how unaccustomed we've become to presidential-like leadership that we don’t recognize it when it slaps us in the face, but his firm stance on Iraq and many other reasons make it obvious to me that Chris Dodd should be the Democratic presidential nominee in 2008.
In addition to saying unequivocally that he will get our troops out of Iraq when he assumes the role of Commander-in-Chief, Dodd has voted for troop withdrawals at every opportunity since Democrats took control of Congress in January and has been a leader in all efforts to end the Iraq quagmire.
But Dodd has been at his best most recently in showing immense leadership and the truest understanding of our nation's meaning in standing strong against attempts by the Bush administration to let telecommunications companies off the hook for aiding and abetting the White House in their illegal domestic spying on American citizens. Despite little support from his Senate colleagues and eerie initial silence from his fellow presidential candidates, Dodd came out and said last week that he would place a Senatorial "hold" on any bill granting immunity to companies that have assisted George W. Bush in spying on Americans without required warrants and announced that he would filibuster any such legislation to keep it from passing.
Here's Dodd on the Senate floor on Friday:
"While it may be true that the proposed legislation is an improvement on existing law, it remains fundamentally flawed because it fails to protect the privacy rights of Americans or hold the Executive or the private sector accountable if they choose to ignore the law.
"That is why I will not stand on the floor of the United States Senate and be silent about the direction we are headed.
"It is time to say 'no more.' No more trampling our Constitution. No more excusing those who violate the rule of law. These are our principles. They have been around at least since the Magna Carta. They are enduring.
"What they are not is temporary. And what we do not do in a time where our country is at risk is abandon them."
"The right of privacy and the Constitution don’t belong to any candidate, or belong to any political party," said Dodd in Iowa last week, when speaking of the need for anyone wanting to be president to understand our country's principles. "It’s incumbent upon all of us to stand up when those rights are being jeopardized and that’s what I intend to be doing over the coming days here, depending upon the outcome of this process, moving through the United States Senate."
As Glenn Greenwald said in Salon last week, Dodd is showing leadership and the will to back up his rhetoric at a time when the very foundation on which our country was conceived is being gutted.
Wrote Greenwald: "Dodd is not the planet's greatest orator and is never going to be. But he has something, at least right now, that is far more important: authenticity and passion about defending the Constitution and the rule of law, along with the resolve to accompany those convictions with action, even if it risks alienating his 'friends and colleagues,' in the oh-so-august Senate."
Greenwald also implies the key question all Democratic voters need to ask as the primary-voting months draw near: What the hell is with the deafening silence coming out of the Clinton and Obama camps on the subject of domestic spying and trampling on Americans' Constitutional rights?
"Contrast Dodd's leadership and conviction on this matter with the complete passivity and invisibility of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama," writes Greenwald. "Whatever that is, it's the opposite of leadership. And it is this passivity and amorphous, shapeless, inspiration-free invisibility that has come increasingly to characterize both of their campaigns, along with the leadership of their party."
And as one who has covered the Senate for a few years, I can tell you without hesitation that Dodd's leadership and steadfast loyalty to Progressive ideals and doing the right thing did not begin when he announced his presidential campaign this year.
The Connecticut Senator has long championed increased funding for emergency first responders and, in 2005, authored and fought for legislation that would have funded "...urgent priorities for our Nation's firefighters, law enforcement personnel and emergency medical personnel." Dodd's bill was killed by the Republican Senate but he kept pushing for similar legislation to bolster domestic security for the remainder of the 109th Congress.
On judicial oversight, Dodd helped lead a small number of Democratic Senators who attempted to block Bush's nomination of Samuel Alito to be the next right-wing hack on the Supreme Court, saying of the ultra-conservative Alito that "his legal philosophy is outside the mainstream. That philosophy has caused him to support dramatic new powers for the government and fewer rights for ordinary citizens. In Judge Alito’s America, the President would act with radical new powers -- unchecked by either the Congress or the courts as envisioned by the framers of our constitution.”
In March of 2006, Dodd stood with Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) in filibustering the USA Patriot Act renewal.
Clinton and Obama? They voted against Feingold and Dodd's attempts to keep the Bush-Cheney-Rove axis from further making the Founding Fathers spin in their graves.
Later in 2006, Dodd stepped up to the plate again, authoring the Effective Terrorists Prosecution Act, which sought to neuter Bush's awful Military Commission Act and restore some of the moral authority America lost with the rest of the world when it gave the White House the sweeping ability to breach civil liberties in a manner more like a dictatorship than a democracy.
"It’s clear the people who perpetrated these horrendous crimes against our country and our people have no moral compass and deserve to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law," said Dodd in speaking for his bill, which also would have restored Habeas Corpus rights. "But in taking away their legal rights, the rights first codified in our country’s Constitution, we’re taking away our own moral compass, as well.”
On domestic issues, Dodd has been on the front lines with Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) in leading the fight for a minimum wage increase, full funding of the Head Start program and in making college more affordable for middle-class and low-income families. What many voters also don't know is that, despite its passage being attributed to newly-elected Bill Clinton in 1993, the Family and Medical Leave Act -- one of the most popular and substantial pieces of social legislation in decades -- was written by Dodd and promoted by him long before it was finally passed.
And while Republicans boast about supporting the troops when their actions are so often contrary to those hollow claims, Dodd has led in those battles as well, authoring legislation in March to provide $38 billion to restore National Guard readiness -- both for Iraq combat and for preparedness to address large-scale domestic emergencies by providing Guard troops with the equipment they have lacked under Team Bush and that's been depleted by ongoing Iraq deployments.
Finally, after years of having a president who either directly causes national problems or who reacts badly when they occur -- Hurricane Katrina, anyone? -- most Americans are ready for a Chief Executive who actually sees difficulties coming and takes action in advance.
While the whole country was aghast this year at the discovery of inhumane conditions encountered by returning troops at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, it was Dodd who a full year before proposed a measure that, had it not been defeated by the Republican majority, would have provided additional funding to shore up the failing infrastructures at Veterans hospitals all over the country, including Walter Reed.
Said Dodd back in February of 2006: “We know last year that over 100,000 Iraqi veterans returned home. Yet the administration's fiscal year 2006 budget for the VA was only prepared to handle 23,000 veterans. There are shortfalls in every state across the country. There are shortfalls in private facilities as well as public ones. This amendment is for us finally to say let's do something for these people.”
Again, for those of us who have forgotten, this is what real leadership looks like.
So as you prepare to watch the latest Democratic presidential debate tonight, try to stay away from asking if Barack Obama sounded strong enough, if Hillary Clinton stumbled and lost some of her polling lead or if John Edwards did anything to close the gap.
Instead, take a longer look at Dodd, who consistently leads in a way that voters should demand of the person who wants to be the next president.
We've lived with George W. Bush for many terrible years and America is in very perilous times as a nation, both in national security terms and in the degree of damage being done daily to our heritage, creed and reputation in the world. It is insane for we as voters to do anything but look at presidential candidates very carefully and see how they stack up when viewed through that prism and how their deeds match their words.
Nobody should base a presidential vote on who the media is telling them will be elected; we should each make our choice based on who we believe should be elected.
A Time To Regroup and Reconsider... And The Saturday Cartoons
I turned 50 earlier this month. And, while it is not written that hitting the half-century mark should be a time of great reflection, it seems as good a time as any to reevaluate my direction and decide how I would like the next decades to look.
Based on such an assessment, I have decided to take an extended break from writing this blog and covering the United States Senate. In addition to needing time to consider where I would like to go from here in my writing career, I feel a real imperative to make my physical fitness and health a greater priority.
Over two years of essentially working two full-time jobs -- like many bloggers, I also work a corporate day job -- and getting an average of four hours of sleep a night doesn't cut it for me any longer. But without any support or funding for our efforts, the vast majority of liberal bloggers do this for free, using every spare hour and minute, in the hope of changing the direction of our country and being a loud voice toward that end. But that level of devotion -- obsession? -- is not unlimited and, for each of us, it has a finite lifespan based on how long we hold off exhaustion and avoid burn-out.
That time has come for me.
We have much to do and accomplish in 2008 and, with the lack of newer, Progressive voices in the Corporate Media and the structural problems I see in the Progressive blog world, I believe I can better prepare to do my part next year by getting healthier and calmly, without the tyranny of daily deadlines, working with some trusted allies to find a better way forward.
This isn't good-bye. And if you would like to plug in your e-mail address below, I'd be happy to keep you posted on what comes next.
It could be some wild stuff.
As always, thank you for reading.
And now, on with the 'toons!
Here's our friend, Nick Anderson with his latest animation that, while not political, will warm your heart:
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All cartoons are posted with the artists' express permission to BobGeiger.com. Please visit the following sites to see more work from these fine cartoonists:
The Senate is in recess until September 4 and, for this year, that means so am I.
I need some time to recharge my batteries, get a bit more sleep and consider the best way forward for my coverage of the Senate and my second career in political writing. Based on a large number of requests and commitments I've made to editorial cartoonists, I will continue to post the Saturday Cartoons this month.
Other than that, I will see you after the Labor Day holiday.
Here's Mark Fiore with another bit of hip-hop from MC Rove....
Click on the screenshot above or go here to see it.
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So some guy named Cliff walked into a Yearly Kos convention and introduced Howard Dean...
And...
Thank God for FoxNews' good sense! No, I mean it. They took a look at that unbelievably crappy Half Hour News Hour -- you know the show that was supposed to provide some chuckles, and in reality had all the comic brilliance of diptheria -- and they canned it.
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There's a lot of great Progressive blogs out there and here's some highlights from the last week from the ones I enjoy reading:
Brad Friedman at BradBlog, who covers the hell out of election issues, tells us about Diebold Elections Systems trying to run from their name.
Our friend Pam at Pam's House Blend talks about Richard Land's views on women who have abortions being mentally 'impaired' and also takes a look at a Hollywood trade mag discussing Merv's Griffin's closet.
Natasha Chart talks about solving the climate crisis through soil building… A look at how we could cut through the doom and gloom of global warming by farming our way out of it.
Over on AlterNet’s blog, PEEK, Joshua Holland runs down the week’s news from Iraq.
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All cartoons are posted with the artists' express permission to BobGeiger.com. Please visit the following sites to see more work from these fine cartoonists:
And Mark Fiore returns with Snuggly the White House Security Bear, making sure we all feel "snuggly and secure."
Click on the screenshot above or go here to see it.
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Would Bill O'Reilly like your favorite loofah? Cliff reports from YearlyKos with the answers.
And...
One would think in light of well-reasoned remarks blaming Americans for 9/11 coming from members of the GOP base such as the late Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and Fred Phelps, that John Cox would fit right in with this band of blow-dried Gorgons.
For some reason, though, they are trying to exclude him. Cliff looks at why that may be.
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There's a lot of great Progressive blogs out there and here's some highlights from the last week from the ones I enjoy reading:
All cartoons are posted with the artists' express permission to BobGeiger.com. Please visit the following sites to see more work from these fine cartoonists:
Dodd On Bloggers And Fox News: "You Scare The Hell Out Of These Guys"
Democratic presidential candidate Chris Dodd sat down with a small group of Progressive bloggers on Saturday at the Yearly Kos conference and, in a 45-minute conversation, discussed Iraq, impeachment, the recent Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) vote and Bill O'Reilly's rabid attacks on liberal writers and activists.
In a conference-center meeting room, we met a friendly and relaxed Dodd who, after a brief welcome, took the entire time to answer questions that included those about his recent trashing of O'Reilly for the Fox News blowhard's ongoing hate-fest against Yearly Kos attendees.
"Had it been a one-night deal where he went after the Daily Kos, I probably would have said, alright I'm going to let it go," said the Connecticut Senator. "But it was kind of a repetition going on where all of a sudden I said they've decided this has value with them and it's resonating with people and they're getting away with describing something that's just totally fallacious."
"And you've got to answer these guys at times and it's uncomfortable and it's obvious that there's risk involved because I'm sure he'll be deciding he wants to say what he wants to say over the next coming weeks on all of this. But I'm a great believer that enabling occurs with silence… and so I thought it was important for one of us to get up and make a case and push back."
While not being willing to boycott appearing on Fox entirely -- saying, "I don't think you can leave the field to them" -- Dodd called the growing influence of Progressive blogs and their readers a threat to propaganda outfits like Rupert Murdoch's Newscorp.
"There's a lot of money involved and all of a sudden a growing percentage of people get their information from a very different set of sources," said Dodd. "One of my theories about O'Reilly… Something tells me, you scare the hell out of these guys. And I've got a feelings that a lot of what motivated that thing didn't have anything to do with Daily Kos or postings.
"You're a threat to institutions like Fox and Newscorp and others."
And Dodd, who has shown strong leadership in the Senate on ending the Iraq occupation and overturning the Military Commissions Act in its entirety, took his colleagues to task for voting on Friday to give George W. Bush extended powers for domestic spying. Dodd said that each Senator had ample time to read the legislation and that the new FISA law didn’t appear with the suddenness with which the Patriot Act originally came to lawmakers.
"This is not a Patriot Act situation. People had a very good idea of what was involved," he said. "Even though the vote occurred last evening, there was all day yesterday, there were caucuses, there was an ongoing battle -- the reason the vote took as long as it did was that they were settling on whatever the language was going to be in the various proposals -- so there was full awareness. And this isn’t a 500-page bill -- it's a relatively short two or three pages so you could read it in 30 seconds."
"This is not a question of ignorance or 'we didn’t know, it was late at night, rushing along here…' That argument should not be accepted as a legitimate argument at all. This is again, lacking, in my view, a sense of conviction about this stuff."
Dodd refused to be critical of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) on the outcome of the FISA vote or the overall priorities so far in the 110th Congress, except to say that he believes Iraq should continue to be front and center on the Senate agenda.
I asked Senator Dodd about the outrageous obstructionism being practiced by Senate Republicans and whether he believes, if nothing else is going to get done anyway, the Senate should have continued debating the recent Defense Authorization bill (and the withdrawal provisions) and should go forward by making the Senate business about Iraq every single day after the August recess.
"I don’t disagree with that," Dodd said. "I think we walked off the Defense Department Authorization bill too quickly. I think we should have stayed right with that. Not that these other issues aren't important… The ethics stuff is important and the SCHIP for the kids is important -- I don’t want to minimize the importance of those things, but nothing is more important than the Iraq war. You've got to stick with it."
When Pachacutec of Firedoglake emphasized the need for Senate Democrats to get stronger spines and "even if you lose, pick a fight," Dodd immediately agreed.
"I think it's much more valuable to get 20 votes for something that means something than when you try to get 51 votes," Dodd said.
The biggest philosophical divergence in the room came predictably enough on the subject of impeachment. I asked Dodd whether or not the conduct of the Bush administration had become such a threat to our Democracy that there were simply no practical or political arguments left for not impeaching Bush and Cheney.
Dodd said that, while as repulsed as everyone by Team Bush, he has very real concerns that going for impeachment would cost Democrats the presidency and both Houses of Congress in 2008.
"Politically speaking, there's nothing more important to me than winning the election of '08. I don’t say that from a personal standpoint, I want a Democrat, I want someone to bring some Progressive values and ideals to this office, to be the nominee and to win," he said. "And having been the general chairman of this party in the reelection of Bill Clinton -- I'm the only chairman of the party that's actually reelected a Democrat since Franklin Roosevelt and I was looking at a guy who was 35 percent in the polls in January of 1995 -- so I have some sense of what it takes to win a national election. And my gut instinct tells me that if we go down this road of an indictment and a trial, that we will lose the national election in '08. We'll lose maybe the House and possibly the Senate in the process."
I pressed a bit more, asking Senator Dodd if that's a false choice given that Republicans are already blocking all movement, while depicting Democrats as leaders of a do-nothing Congress and that, if the GOP is successful at that positioning, the public will also be left asking why Congress didn't move to impeach Bush and Cheney or more forcefully work to end the war.
Dodd's response:
"I think people have the same reaction that they have to Congress generally: 'listen, it's about me, it's not about you and what are you doing for me?' That's the old question people ask all the time when they go to vote. 'Are you listening to me? Are you paying attention to me?' That's the ultimate question that any voter asks of any person running for office.
"It's never about the candidate in their mind -- it's about them. They want to know if you're paying attention to them, if you're listening to them. 'Do you know what I'm going through? Do you know what I worry about? And here you are again worried about yourselves. My kid's in a crappy school, I've got no health care, some son of a bitch just closed the shop and moved to South America with my plant and you're farting around with this thing? What the hell's the matter with you?' And that's a very common reaction from people and to try to make the subtleties of these other arguments becomes very hard to get resonance with them.
"And this sounds like -- other than to a particular audience that cares deeply about it -- the general audience that's out there struggling every day and wondering if government cares at all about what's happening in their lives, this appears to not be focused on them… And that's the worry I have with it and why I think this is dangerous."
While it was clear that most in the room disagreed with him on that subject, Dodd also said that the subject of impeachment becomes very different when talking about Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
"I would agree if you're taking about Gonzales I think that it's much more plausible because I think there it would be obviously a huge story and it would be a dominating story but I think there would be the notion that this is not the legislative branch seeking a coup of the executive branch, but rather dealing specifically with a Constitutional officer. So I don’t disagree with that analysis."
Finally, Dodd discussed the greater influence of Progressive blogs on Capitol Hill and his disdain for the varying degrees of status given to different presidential candidates by the Corporate Media. When asked about the media's tendency to assign presidential candidates to first-tier or second-tier status based on polling and fundraising, Dodd said that some status should come from decades of fighting for the right causes.
"I may not be as well known, but damn it after 26 years of fighting a lot of these freakin' battles, when people weren't even around this stuff, I think I at least deserve to be taken seriously about this," he said. "And I don’t deserve to be relegated to some status because I don’t have numbers that are breaking through the ceiling financially."
And Dodd, who most Americans don’t know authored the popular Family and Medical Leave Act and fought for years for its passage, said that it's obvious to him that blogs have gained major traction in the halls of Congress.
"I think most offices today are certainly very much aware and have hired people in their offices to either have blogs or to engage or pay attention to what is being said so there's clearly a lot more of that and it's growing all the time," said Dodd, while also acknowledging the Netroots' fundraising prowess as was illustrated last quarter with blog money coming into Tom Allen's challenge of Republican Senator Susan Collins in Maine.
Quipped Dodd: "That will get their attention -- very quickly, I think."
Hey, if it's Monday, it's time to check the BobGeiger.com Osama clock.
It has now been almost six years since our country was attacked on September 11, 2001 and exactly 2,149 days since George W. Bush (The Resolute One) said that he would get Osama bin Laden dead or alive.
And so, as we ask every week, Mr. Bush: Where's Osama?
Sorry for the total lack of action on the site this week. I'm at the Yearly Kos convention in Chicago and between meetings, heavy socialization, my speaking gig today and moderating the Keynote panel Saturday with Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Reid, I'm all spoken for at the moment.
The Senate will convene at 9:30 a.m. and will be in a period of morning business for up to 30 minutes, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each, with the time under the control of the Republican Leader or his designee.
Following morning business, the Senate will resume consideration of H.R. 476, Children's Health Insurance Program legislation. There will then be 30 minutes for debate equally divided and controlled between Senators Ensign and Baucus on the Ensign amendment No. 2538 (Research Trust Funds) prior to a vote in relation to the amendment.
At 12:00 noon, Senator Byrd will be recognized to speak as if in morning business for up to 30 minutes.
Kennedy Blasts GOP For Willingness To Fund War But Not Health Care
Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA), the Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, and a longtime champion for working Americans and children, blasted his Republican colleagues Tuesday afternoon for their opposition to funding the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).
"Every child in America ought to have a healthy start. We are about here in the United States Senate, we are about expressing priorities," said Kennedy on the Senate floor. "Those of us on this side of the aisle and a group on the other side, a small group on the other side, courageous group on the other side have stated that same concept, that every child in America should have a healthy start, number one. And number two, that every parent in America should be relieved of the anxiety about worrying whether they have sufficient resources to be able to make sure that their child is going to receive decent quality of health care."
And he torched Republicans for failing to see the profound impact that a lack of basic health care has on so many American families.
"Those are revolutionary thoughts, huh? Those are surprising concepts; is that right? Evidently, our friends on the other side of the aisle get all worked up about that, those two concepts -- that all children in this country should have a healthy start and that mothers and fathers should be relieved from the anxiety that when their child has an earache or their child has a sore throat or their child has a headache, they have to wonder whether their child is $150 or $175 sick, because that is what it costs to take them to the emergency room.
"So they wait overnight. They let the child get a little sicker. They have a sleepless night. They worry. They hope and they pray that their child gets better. Well, we in this body say that America can do better.
The Senate is currently debating legislation that would reauthorize SCHIP and boost the program's funding by $35 billion over five years, with Republicans against a proposal to pay for the increase by raising taxes on cigarettes.
Kennedy singled out Republican Whip Trent Lott of Mississippi for his fussing over the cost of the SCHIP program, which in its entirety is a fraction of what the Iraq occupation has cost the American people.
"I listened to my friend, and he is my friend, from Mississippi talking about the cost of this program, $60 billion over five years. That's what we're spending in five months in Iraq! Five months in Iraq! What would the American people rather have, coverage for their children or continued conflict in Iraq where we're losing our young men and women," said the Massachusetts Senator, who has served in Congress for 45 years.
And he further cut to the heart of what is undoubtedly at the center of Republican opposition to SCHIP, which is that much of it is to be funded by demanding that huge GOP donors in the tobacco industry pay for some of the health problems caused by their products.
Here's the video of Kennedy's speech:
"This is a measure that speaks for action, it speaks for justice, it speaks for fairness, it speaks for our values," said Kennedy.
And for those of you who say there's no difference between Democrats and Republicans, please watch the video again.
The Senate will convene at 10:00 a.m. and will be in a period of morning business for up to 60 minutes, with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each and equally divided, with the Republicans controlling the first half and the Majority controlling the final half.
Following morning business, the Senate will adopt the motion to proceed to H.R. 976, the vehicle for the Children's Health Insurance Program legislation.
The Senate will recess from 12:30 p.m. until 2:15 p.m. for the respective party conference work periods.
Destroying The GOP's Congressional Approval-Rating Spin
One of the most frustrating things about beating back Republican lies, smears and spin can be that the underlying issues are often very complex and nuanced and explaining exactly how the GOP is intentionally misleading people is a task that Democrats have yet to master. That's why the silly refrain from Republicans about the low Congressional approval ratings that have continued since Democrats took control just six months ago is so amazingly easy to obliterate.
Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Robert "Mike" Duncan was at it again last week, sending an e-mail to supporters on Friday that used that transparent line of reasoning and did so by almost comically touting how well George W. Bush is doing with the American people.
"Republicans on the Rise!" screamed the e-mail from Duncan in which he all at once celebrated Bush's "rising" job approval ratings, slammed Congressional Democrats and implied that most of us actually believe the Iraq occupation is going just swell. (Bold type on the following is from Duncan's e-mail.)
"The eight most recent public polls show the President's job approval is rising while approval of Congress is plummeting. The four polls that measured job approval for both the President and Congress show the President's ratings are higher.
"… As voters see signs that the surge is working in Baghdad and Anbar, optimism is increasing with more people believing the war was the right thing to do and that the war is going better. "
"The more people see the clear differences between the policies of Republicans and Democrats, the stronger our position," proclaims Delusional Duncan.
We'll take these one at a time.
Duncan clearly got the title of his e-mail from the White Star Line's last newsletter before their luxury flagship sailed, in which they announced "Titanic on the Rise!" OK, I'm making that up, but it's just about as ridiculous as bragging about a statistically-insignificant uptick in Bush's dismal approval rating and using the following graphic to illustrate it:
What really tells the story is the following graph from Pollster.com in which you would need an electron microscope to see whatever incidental Bush improvement the RNC is so excited about:
A picture's worth a thousand words, huh?
Indeed, a July 25, Washington Postanalysis of Bush's approval ratings concluded that "with 18 months left in office, he is in the running for most unpopular president in the history of modern polling."
Now, about that Congressional approval rating that Republicans are trying to ride as far as stupidity will allow them… Yes, the Congress has a lousy approval rating, but a cursory look at recent history shows that it's a continuation of how the GOP, do-nothing Congresses tanked those numbers beginning back in 2002.
Not a pretty picture to be sure, but you would never know from their strident rhetoric that it's Republicans that held the House of Representatives for the five years ending in January and that they had the Senate for all but one year (2002-2003) during that lengthy period. So that downward slide belongs almost entirely to the Republican party and the Democrats simply have not yet reversed that long-term decline.
One could argue that a more aggressive stance on Iraq on the part of Congressional Democrats might have caused the bad GOP approval ratings they inherited to go up fast but, even on that score, Republicans have been a massive roadblock every step of the way on keeping faith with the American people and ending the Iraq occupation.
And if you want to see the real kicker on the gall shown by Republicans in this positioning, there's two talking points you need to remember. One is that the current set of Congressional approval numbers under Democratic leadership look about the same -- if not a tad better -- than what the Republican Congress had in October, before the 2006 elections.
Here's Congress recently:
And here's what it looked like in October under GOP rule:
And for real chutzpah, have a look at the fact that Republicans as a group currently have a lower approval rating than do Congressional Democrats, by a six-point margin.
Finally, the RNC saying that Americans believe "the war was the right thing to do and that the war is going better" is just a flat-out lie. Every single poll that's been done in the last two years reflects diminishing support for the Iraq occupation and the vast majority of Americans believe going into Iraq was a mistake and want our troops out now.
That graph, which reflects Americans being asked if they think we did the right thing going into Iraq, doesn't tell you anything you didn’t already know, does it?
But the notion that Bush's popularity is skyrocketing, that the Democrats are responsible for a 5 1/2-year slide in Congressional approval ratings and Americans are beginning to appreciate the merits of the Iraq quagmire is the current Republican story -- and damn it, they're sticking with it.
We're fortunate that the truth on this is easy to point out and explain.
So, to wrap up: No matter what they say, George W. Bush remains about as popular as Mark Foley at a Congressional Page weenie roast. Blaming the Democrats for the bad Congressional approval rating doesn’t work when Republicans own 90 percent of that recent track record. And, of course, the number of American parents willing to send their sons and daughters to Iraq is not on the rise.
The Senate will convene at 2:00 p.m. and will be in a period of morning business until 3:00 p.m., with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each, with the time equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees.
At 3:00 p.m., the Senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to H.R. 976, the vehicle for the SCHIP legislation, with the time until 5:30 p.m. equally divided between the Chairman and ranking member of the Finance Committee. At 5:30 p.m., the Senate will proceed to vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to H.R. 976.
Hey, if it's Monday, it's time to check the BobGeiger.com Osama clock.
It has now been almost six years since our country was attacked on September 11, 2001 and exactly 2,142 days since George W. Bush (The Resolute One) said that he would get Osama bin Laden dead or alive.
And so, as we ask every week, Mr. Bush: Where's Osama?
Following Alberto Gonzales's lame testimony last week -- and the most transparent lying performance since my little boy ate the last of the Double-Stuf Oreos -- the Senate Judiciary Committee returns for another week of investigations into the Justice Department firings of eight federal prosecutors.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) last week issued subpoenas to George W. Bush's brain, Karl Rove, and White House Deputy Political Affairs Director J. Scott Jennings and the two are due to testify on Thursday. What are the chances that the slippery Rove will actually show -- slim or none?
Also important in Judiciary this week -- given the GOP's penchant for stealing elections and the fact that we have some fairly important ones coming up -- will be hearings on S. 453, the Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act of 2007.
Here's the bill's description:
Amends the Revised Statutes and federal criminal law to prohibit any person, whether acting under color of law or otherwise, from knowingly deceiving any other person regarding: (1) the time, place, or manner of conducting any federal election; or (2) the qualifications for or restrictions on voter eligibility for any such election. Makes intent to prevent another person from exercising the right to vote an essential element of the offense. Creates a private right of action for any person aggrieved by a violation of such prohibition.
The legislation is authored by Barack Obama (D-IL) and -- surprise, surprise -- not one Republican is among the many cosponsors.
And given that the role of the Justice Department has morphed into it representing the White House and not the American people, the committee will also look at S. 1845, by Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), which will "provide for limitations in certain communications between the Department of Justice and the White House Office relating to civil and criminal investigations."
In other key committee meetings, Armed Services will hold a hearing Friday on the treatment of military detainees while earlier in the week -- and how's this for irony? -- the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will look at "Building a Stronger American Diplomatic Presence" to examine "shortfalls in Department of State staffing and foreign language skills and the impact on the ability to conduct U.S. foreign policy."
Though with the sophistication of Team Bush's foreign policy, the primary skill required at the State Department these days is to look good in caveman garb and swing a big club.
And, wait, we're not done with Judiciary!
The committee will take a break from the fired-U.S. Attorney lying festival to examine OxyContin in a hearing called "Ensuring that Death and Serious Injury are More than a Business Cost: OxyContin and Defective Products."
There is no truth to the rumor that comedian Rush Limbaugh will testify on the fear he endures every time he goes down to the corner to score another dose of "Hillbilly Heroin."
On that note, here's the full Senate committee schedule for the week:
Jul 31, 2007 at 9:30 a.m. To hold hearings to examine the state of the securities markets.
Aug 2, 2007 at 9:30 a.m. To hold hearings to examine the nominations of Randall S. Kroszner, of New Jersey, Larry Allan Klane, of the District of Columbia, and Elizabeth A. Duke, of Virginia, all to be Members of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
Aug 2, 2007 at 2:30 p.m. To hold hearings to examine reforming key international financial institutions for the 21st century. (Security and International Trade and Finance Subcommittee)
Jul 31, 2007 at 10 a.m. To hold hearings to examine the following nominations:
Ronald Spoehel, of Virginia, to be Chief Financial Officer, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
William G. Sutton, Jr., of Virginia, to be an Assistant Secretary of Commerce
Thomas J. Barrett, of Alaska, to be Deputy Secretary of Transportation
Paul R. Brubaker, of Virginia, to be Administrator of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Department of Transportation.
Jul 31, 2007 at 2:30 p.m. The Committee will examine three major consumer protection and fraud prevention issues under the jurisdiction of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC): (1) the effectiveness of the national Do-Not-Call registry and current legislative proposals to improve the Do-Not-Call Implementation Act of 2003; (2) the effectiveness of CROA and possible legislative initiatives to clarify the language of the Act; and (3) telemarketing fraud, particularly against older Americans.
Aug 1, 2007 at 2:30 p.m. The U.S. Department of Commerce and its component bureaus are responsible for the stewardship, protection, and scientific understanding of our ocean environment and its resources, effective use and growth of the nation’s technological resources, and promoting U.S. trade and tourism. The oversight hearing will examine the Department’s effectiveness in implementing these goals.
Aug 2, 2007 at 10 a.m. Business meeting to consider the following legislation:
S. 781, To extend the authority of the Federal Trade Commission to collect Do-Not- Call Registry fees to fiscal years after fiscal year 2007
Jul 31, 2007 at 2:30 p.m. Committee hearing is to receive testimony on renewable fuels infrastructure.
Aug 1, 2007 at 9:30 a.m. To receive testimony on recent advances in Clean Coal Technology, including the prospects for deploying these technologies at a commercial scale in the near future.
Aug 1, 2007 at 2:30 p.m. To hold hearings to examine the following legislation:
S. 1054: A bill to amend the Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to participate in the Inland Empire regional recycling project and in the Cucamonga Valley Water District recycling project
H.R. 122: Inland Empire Regional Water Recycling Initiative
S. 1472: A bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to create a Bureau of Reclamation partnership with the North Bay Water Reuse Authority and other regional partners to achieve objectives relating to water supply, water quality, and environmental restoration
S. 1475: A bill to amend the Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act to authorize the Bay Area Regional Water Recycling Program, and for other purposes
H.R. 1526: Bay Area Regional Water Recycling Program Authorization Act of 2007
H.R. 30: Eastern Municipal Water District Recycled Water System Pressurization and Expansion Project
H.R. 609: Central Texas Water Recycling Act of 2007
H.R. 1175: To amend the Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act to increase the ceiling on the Federal share of the costs of phase I of the Orange County, California, Regional Water Reclamation Project
(Water and Power Subcommittee)
Aug 2, 2007 at 2:30 p.m. To Receive Testimony on S.1253, a bill to establish a fund for the National Park Centennial Challenge. (National Parks Subcommittee)
Jul 31, 2007 at 9:30 a.m. The committee will hold a business meeting to consider the following legislation:
A bill to reauthorize the provision of technical assistance to small public water systems, S. 1429 (Inhofe et al.)
Ban Asbestos in America Act, S. 742 (Murray, Isakson, Boxer et al. manager’s substitute amendment)
Toxic Right to Know Protection Act, S. 595 (Lautenberg et al.)
California waiver decision deadline bill, S. 1785 (Nelson, Boxer et al. manager’s substitute amendment, with technical correction)
National Infrastructure Improvement Act, S. 775 (Carper, Voinovich et al. manager’s substitute amendment)
The Multinational Species Conservation Funds reauthorizations, HR 50 and HR 465 (same as S. 1832 with tech corrections, Lieberman-Warner-Boxer)
The Captive Primate Safety Act, S. 1498, (Boxer, Vitter et al.)
The committee will also examined the following nominations:
Robert Lyle Laverty to be Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, U.S. Department of the Interior
Robert Lance Boldrey nominee for reappointment to the Board of Trustees for the Morris K. Udall Scholarship and Excellence in National Environmental Policy Foundation
Jul 31, 2007 at 9:30 a.m. To hold hearings to examine nuclear energy and nonproliferation challenges, focusing on safeguarding the atom.
Aug 1, 2007 at 9:30 a.m. To hold hearings to examine the United States Africa Command, focusing on a new strategic relationship with Africa. (African Affairs Subcommittee)
Aug 1, 2007 at 9:30 a.m. Business meeting to consider the following legislation:
S. 579: A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to make grants for the development and operation of research centers regarding environmental factors that may be related to the etiology of breast cancer
S. 625: A bill to protect the public health by providing the Food and Drug Administration with certain authority to regulate tobacco products
S. 1858: A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to establish grant programs to provide for education and outreach on newborn screening and coordinated follow-up care once newborn screening has been conducted, to reauthorize programs under part A of title XI of such Act, and for other purposes
Aug 1, 2007 at 2:30 p.m. To hold hearings to examine the under-representation of Americans at the United Nations and its organizations; focusing on ways to build a stronger American diplomatic presence. (Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia Subcommittee)
Aug 2, 2007 at 10 a.m. To hold hearings to examine the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (Public Law 109-435), focusing on the services that are provided to customers. (Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International Security Subcommittee)
Jul 31, 2007 at 2:30 p.m. To hold closed hearings to examine certain intelligence matters.
Aug 1, 2007 at 2:30 p.m. To hold hearings to examine the nomination of Donald M. Kerr, of Virginia, to be Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence.
Aug 2, 2007 at 2:30 p.m. To hold closed hearings to examine certain intelligence matters.
Jul 31, 2007 at 10 a.m. To hold hearings to examine the impact of the Leegin decision.
Jul 31, 2007 at 2:30 p.m. To hold hearings to examine death and serious injury relating to Oxycontin and defective products.
Aug 2, 2007 at 10 a.m. To continue hearings to examine the Department of Justice politicizing the hiring and firing of United States Attorneys, focusing on preserving prosecutorial independence.
Aug 2, 2007 at 11:30 a.m. Business meeting to consider the following legislation:
S. 1692: A bill to grant a Federal charter to Korean War Veterans Association, Incorporated
S. 1060: A bill to reauthorize the grant program for reentry of offenders into the community in the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, to improve reentry planning and implementation, and for other purposes
S. 453: A bill to prohibit deceptive practices in Federal elections
S. 1845: A bill to provide for limitations in certain communications between the Department of Justice and the White House Office relating to civil and criminal investigations, and for other purposes
And here's Mark Fiore with an animation on the Bush administration dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina: "Pickling The Poor" with your host, Buzzie the Fly.
Click on the screenshot above or go here to see it.
All cartoons are posted with the artists' express permission to BobGeiger.com. Please visit the following sites to see more work from these fine cartoonists:
Democrats Literally Throw Life Preserver To Fred Thompson
Is this another example of Democrats being far nicer to Republicans than they ever are in return or is it simply the wags at the Democratic National Committee (DNC) having a Friday-afternoon laugh at Fred Thompson's expense?
A DNC intern paid a visit to Thompson's campaign headquarters today and, based on the fact that Freddy's campaign seems to be taking on water before it has even set sail, delivered a life preserver to the Tennessee Republican along with a letter of support.
"With recent reports that your presidential campaign has already been knocked around by some pretty rough seas, we thought you could use a life jacket to help you get your sea legs so you won't have to delay your 'official' announcement any longer," said the generous DNC letter.
Hey, it's Friday, which means it's time to check out BuzzFlash's "GOP Hypocrite Of The Week." As always, it's a grueling process to narrow the selection to just one Republican hypocrite, and this week BuzzFlash went with a "small fry Republican sex pervert hypocrite" in the form of North Carolina Republican Coy C. Privette. Mr. Privette was, until recently, the head of the Christian Action League of North Carolina and -- you guessed it! -- has also been shagging prostitutes.
An excerpt:
In the spirit of Senator "Hooker" Vitter, Privette recently was arrested and "charged with six counts of misdemeanor aiding and abetting prostitution by renting a hotel room and paying for sexual acts, according to warrants."
Now we must admit that Southern chivalry is not dead. Privette paid for the "lodging expenses," we'll grant him that.
But we took note that "Privette had been the group's [Christian Action League of North Carolina] president for the past six years and served as its executive director for 15 years before that."
You can assume that he was running around championing the sanctity of marriage and all sorts of "family values," just like Senator "Hooker" Vitter. And did we mention Privette is a Baptist minister and once ran for the Republican nomination for governor of North Carolina?
You can read the rest at GOPhypocrites.com and see a historical list of BuzzFlash's other worthy selections.
The folks at BuzzFlash check in today with their Media Putz of the week, "for reporting that is an embarrassment to the profession of journalism, and for being beholden to corporate paymasters rather than the citizens of America."
This week, the award goes to one of the most smarmy conservative blowhards, Tucker Carlson, who is cited by BuzzFlash this week for defending disgraced GOP Senator David Vitter for his hooker habit and maintaining that the Senator's lust for prostitutes is in no way at odds with his sanctity-of-marriage pronouncements.
Here's BuzzFlash:
The real test of a Media Putz is kind of like the difference between sex for love and sex for money.
If you look closely at a true Media Putz -- their mannerisms and gestures -- you can discern that they are performing for the money, not because being a pundit gives them an outlet for their true beliefs.
Like a hooker, they give their owners, advertisers, and viewers what they want, outrageous statements and attitude in return for high ratings and a fat paycheck.
To be honest, we don't believe most Media Putzes necessarily have any core ideology except for getting rich by being controversial.
Which brings us back to hookers and Tucker Carlson.
Text Of Senate Letter Calling For Special Counsel On Gonzales
Today, Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) called for the appointment of a special counsel to investigate possible wrongdoing by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. In a letter to Solicitor General Paul Clement, the Senators called for a special counsel to be appointed to examine Gonzales on potential charges of obstruction of justice, false statements and perjury in the firings of federal prosecutors and the president's domestic spying program.
Here is the text of that letter:
The Honorable Paul D. Clement Solicitor General United States Department of Justice 950 Pennsylvania Avenue Washington, D.C. 20530
Dear Mr. Clement:
We write to you in your capacity as Acting Attorney General for matters where Attorney General Gonzales has recused himself. We ask that you immediately appoint an independent special counsel from outside the Department of Justice to determine whether Attorney General Gonzales may have misled Congress or perjured himself in testimony before Congress.
We do not make this request lightly. We believe a special counsel is needed because it has become apparent that the Attorney General has provided – at a minimum – half-truths and misleading statements about the removal and replacement of U.S. Attorneys, about his role in trying to circumvent Acting Attorney General Comey, and about the Administration’s position on the NSA wiretapping program. For example:
Attorney General Gonzales testified on February 6, 2006 that within the Administration “there has not been any serious disagreement about the [Terrorist Surveillance Program].” Yet, Attorney General Gonzales indicated in his testimony this week that the purpose of the March 10, 2004 briefing for the “gang of eight” was to advise them “that Mr. Comey had informed us that he would not approve the continuation of a very important intelligence activity.” General Hayden stated in unclassified testimony on May 18, 2006, that the very same briefing for the “gang of eight” was on the “warrantless surveillance program.” Thus, Mr. Gonzales’s statements about the lack of disagreement regarding the surveillance program are deeply troubling.
Attorney General Gonzales testified that the purpose of the March 10, 2004, meeting “was for the White House to advise the Congress that Mr. Comey had advised us that he could not approve the continuation of vitally important intelligence activities,” which the Attorney General later testified was “not” the NSA wiretapping program. This is contradicted by an unclassified letter from John Negroponte, then Director of National Intelligence, to then-Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert on May 17, 2006, describing the same “Gang of Eight” briefing as being “on the Terrorist Surveillance Program.”
On April 19, 2007 when discussing his role in the U.S. Attorney investigation, Attorney General Gonzales testified, “I haven't talked to witnesses because of the fact that I haven't wanted to interfere with this investigation”; however, Monica Goodling testified before the House Judiciary Committee that she had an “uncomfortable” conversation with the Attorney General where he outlined his recollection of what happened and asked her for her reaction.
Unfortunately, these are only a few examples. As the nation’s top lawyer and head of the Department of Justice, the Attorney General should be held to the highest ethical standards. While we believe the investigations of the Inspector General and Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) are important and must continue, we believe the question of the Attorney General's truthfulness in testimony before Congress is sufficiently important to merit the appointment of a special counsel, and sufficiently distinct from internal Department matters the Inspector General and OPR are investigating. This matter is sufficiently integral to the Department’s relationship with Congress that we would hope you would find it prudent to proceed expeditiously with special counsel.
The special counsel should be an independent person of unimpeachable integrity, ability, and experience, who can approach this investigation without any hint of conflict of interest or question of character, and who can be read into classified programs sufficiently to perform these duties.
The scope of the special counsel’s jurisdiction should include the veracity of the Attorney General’s testimony before Congress related to issues including the replacement and removal of U.S. Attorneys, the implementation of the PATRIOT Act’s provisions relating to U.S. Attorneys, and the authorization for the NSA wiretapping program. It should examine whether misleading statements have been made to Congress and the public, and whether potential charges should be filed involving obstruction of justice, perjury, and false statements.
Sincerely,
Signed by Senators Schumer, Feinstein, Feingold and Whitehouse.
Snow Perfectly Conveys White House's Pure Arrogance
White House Press Secretary Tony Snow, like Scott "The Lyin' King" McClellan before him, does a great job serving up lies every day on behalf of George W. Bush. If the president or Dick Cheney told Snow to go before the media and say that today is actually Christmas, he would do it and treat everyone in the room like idiots for being unaware of that altered reality.
So there was Snow yesterday sounding a lot like a Democrat and detailing the amount of Congressional investigation that's been necessary on the corrupt administration for which he is the mouthpiece, but actually using it to illustrate how the current Congress doesn’t understand the view from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue on their role -- that they only exist to rubber stamp King George's policies.
Here's Snow in his opening statement for the Wednesday press briefing:
"As you probably know, the House Judiciary Committee has just voted along partisan lines to have a criminal contempt of Congress referral against White House legal counsel and the White House Chief of Staff. For our view, this is pathetic. What you have right now is partisanship on Capitol Hill that quite often boils down to insults, insinuations, inquisitions and investigations rather than pursuing the normal business of trying to pass major pieces of legislation, such as appropriations bills, and to try to work in such a way as to demonstrate to the American people that Congress and the White House can work together.
"In any event, it's worth putting this in perspective in terms of the accomplishments of the present Congress. If you take a look at the 110th Congress right now, which had promised to have all of its appropriations bills done this month, here's what we have seen since the beginning of the Congress: More than 300 executive branch investigations or inquiries; 400 requests for documents, interviews, or testimony; we've had more than 550 officials testify; we've had more than 600 oversight hearings; 87,000-plus hours spent responding to oversight requests; and 430,000 pages made available to Congress for oversight. That's pretty significant."
"That's pretty significant," he says.
But what he means is that Congress is wasting their time doing the oversight inherent to that body -- because, as far as Snow is concerned, Congress represents the White House and not the American people -- and that they should spend more time helping Bush in his failed national agenda or, like their GOP predecessors, focusing on issues like Terri Schiavo or flag burning.
And then one intrepid reporter tries to remind Snow of that boring old checks-and-balances thing:
Q: Tony, this country -- if I'm correct from our history books, wasn't this country based on the system of checks and balances? You say they're not doing the people's business, but isn't that the people's business? If there is something in question -- granted, there might have been 400 investigations, but if there was something in question, isn't that the people's business?
Snow: That's a very good question. But what if there isn't anything in question and somebody is going on a --
Q: There are things in question.
Snow then goes on to explain how Congress is only on a partisan "fishing expedition" and that Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi are guilty of creating "a toxic atmosphere" in Washington.
I see… We have a Supreme Court-appointed president who has done everything but go up to Capitol Hill and urinate on the Senate floor and has systematically shredded our Constitution, but it's the people in the legislative branch who have polluted the political atmosphere.
And Snow wrapped up soon after one reporter expressed why Congress might be issuing contempt citations -- "you haven't made everybody available. You've made them available if they go without the oath, if they go without the transcript, and if they go in private" -- and another asked about Alberto Gonzales and whether Bush is "troubled by senators questioning his truthfulness and by Specter saying that he doesn't think he has any credibility."
Snow said the president "stands by the Attorney General" and, perhaps to lighten things up, "the president is bothered sometimes by the tone of debate in Washington."
Our friends at the All Spin Zone remind us today that George W. Bush's frat-boy arrogance knows no bounds and we saw another example of it yesterday when Bush publicly welcomed back ABC News reporter Bob Woodruff, who suffered a near-fatal brain injury while reporting in Iraq, only to slap Woodruff down later when he had the nerve to ask King George a question he didn’t like.
According to NPR reporter David Greene, Woodruff asked Bush about "…whether the government was moving fast enough to help [military] families" and Bush refused to answer, saying to Woodruff “just because I recognized you, Bob, doesn’t mean I’m going to answer your questions here.”
In other words, according to Richard Blair at All Spin Zone, “Thanks for being here as a prop for me, Bob, now shut the fuck up.”
The Senate will convene at 9:30 a.m. and will be in a period of morning business for up to 60 minutes, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each, with the Majority controlling the first half and the Republicans controlling the final half.
Following morning business, the Senate will resume consideration of H.R. 2638, the Homeland Security Appropriations bill.
After almost three years of ongoing political writing, I have decided to take a break and suspend regular updates of BobGeiger.com for a few months. As I said previously, this will give me time to recharge my batteries, get back in good shape physically and determine the best way that I can contribute to taking back the White House and extending Democratic leads in the Congress in 2008.
Hey, if it's Monday, it's time to check the BobGeiger.com Osama clock.
Following Alberto Gonzales's lame testimony last week -- and the most transparent lying performance since my little boy ate the last of the Double-Stuf Oreos -- the Senate Judiciary Committee returns for another week of investigations into the Justice Department firings of eight federal prosecutors.
