Kennebunkport No Longer Safe For The Shrub:
"The Maine Democratic Party is calling for a congressional investigation of 'allegations of high crimes and misdemeanors' purportedly committed by President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney and urging Congress 'to initiate impeachment proceedings against them' if warranted ... The resolution accuses the Bush administration of withholding information during the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, allowing the torture of detainees and illegally 'spying on Americans,' among other charges."

Impeachable Treason Reader Favorites For June 3, 2006:
For The Latest Week: Al Gore On Fresh Air (May 30)
For The Latest Month: Big (Lying, Chimp-Faced, Dry-Drunk) Brother (May 11)
All Time Leader: Studs Terkel Tells The Preznit To "Bugger Off" (April 18)

Cast your vote for next week's rankings via email to Southjaw.

Oh So Inconvenient:
I am just back from watching An Inconvenient Truth.  More on this later, but short story is that Bush's lies, obstructionism and slavish devotion to oil, automotive and other corporate interests may be an even greater threat to national security - an even greater impeachable treason, if you will - than his politically motivated preemptive invasion of Iraq, his illegal wiretapping of US citizens, his sanctioning of torture, his ... ok, you get the picture.

The Fog Of Pre-Preemptive Strike Posturing:
I finally got around to watching The Fog of War last night (I know, my Netflix queue priorities are all screwed up), but whether you've seen it or not it's particularly timely - and a bit chilling in the current environment.  McNamara's contrition about the fact that as things were escalating in Vietnam there were no high-level talks between the US and North Vietnamese, and the fact that it took a monumental ignorance of Vietnamese history to think that they were going to be pawns of the Chinese, puts one in mind of the nasty combination of ignorance and egos involved in the current US/Iran brouhaha ... and I know I'm not the first person to point this out.  This story on the deep roots of the Iranian perspective, though, kind of drives the point home.  A little more empathy and communication (see McNamara's lessons), and a little less Texan swagger, would go a long way right about now.

Welcome, Crooks & Liars!
Today was our first appearance on Mike's Blog Roundup, so take your time, look around, and enjoy the visit.  Your comments and suggestions are welcome, of course.

GOP Working Hard To Keep The Vote White:
"This is a fact: On November 2, 2004, in the State of Ohio, 239,127 votes for President of the United States were dumped, rejected, blocked, lost and left to rot uncounted.  And not just anyone's vote. Dive into the electoral dumpster and these "spoiled" votes have a very dark color indeed.  In another life, I taught statistics. And these statistics stank: the raw data tells us that if you are a Black voter, the chance of you losing your vote to technical errors in voting machinery is 900% higher than if you were a white voter ... Two million ballots were cast but not counted in the 2000 race. (Over half, 54%, were cast by African-Americans.) In 2004, the GOP kicked it up to THREE million. Get ready, these guys aim high: 'four in '06' and 'five in '08' looks to be their game plan."

Where Have You Surfed In The Past 2 Years?  Big Brother Wants To Know:
"... unprecedented call by the Bush administration for (Internet and telephone companies) to keep detailed records of customers' online activities for two years.  The request by Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales and FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III would dramatically expand the government's ability to track what people do online and with whom they communicate ... disclosure this year that the Justice Department had solicited potentially billions of online search queries ... and that the National Security Agency had requested calling records of virtually all U.S. customers ... Justice Department wants information linking those online to the Internet addresses assigned to personal computers. In addition, it wants data tying those Internet addresses to destinations on the Web and to e-mail sent and received ..."

Rampant Cesspool Of Lies:
"... the cesspool of lies, secrecy, corruption and overspending is so rampant in Republican-run Washington that nobody has a clue about the real state of our fiscal affairs ... Republican congressional lawmakers and leaders are making vital decisions, involving far-reaching policies and billions of dollars, without the public -- or even congressional Democrats -- present ... an entire culture in the Bush administration and its enabling Republican Congress that refuses to come clean in any forum on price tags - or anything else ..."

Latest Zogby: 70% Wrong Direction Unprecedented:
"(Zogby) said 70% of voters believe the U.S. is headed in the wrong direction, adding, 'I have never seen a number like that since I’ve been polling' ... 68% of voters believe the war in Iraq wasn’t worth the loss of American lives ... Republicans are swimming upstream, they have a hell of a lot of work to do ... Bush is so unpopular he can’t help Republican candidates get elected this year ..."

Probe Of GOP Bribery & Corruption Widens:
"Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA), Chairman of the House Appropriations committee, is now under criminal investigation as part of the expanded Duke Cunningham probe ... one of Lewis' key staffers-turned-lobbyists, Letitia White ... too has become a focus of investigators. She left Lewis' employ to go work for Congressman-turned-lobbyist Bill Lowery, who's deep into the Brent Wilkes-Duke Cunningham-nogoodnik network."

Southern Greens Plan Major Impeachment Rally:
"Is Bush’s impeachment assured? We Greens don’t believe the question is one of likely success, but of what the Constitution demands. When the President and his cohorts break the most fundamental laws of our nation, the very Constitution itself, questions of success or failure are irrelevant. Either we stand for and by the Constitution or we give up on the idea ..."

Impeachment Delegation Heads To Convention:
"... Delegate Anthony Palmer of Hudson is going to try to impeach the president. Palmer hopes the thousands of Democratic delegates will vote on a resolution he crafted calling for the U.S. House of Representatives to impeach President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney ... for, among other things, their handling of the war in Iraq.  Palmer needs 50 delegates to sign on the resolution by noon today for it to be voted on by all the delegates in the afternoon. He said he had 27 signatures yesterday afternoon, before he ventured to the DCU Center in Worcester for the kickoff of the Democratic State Convention ..."

Ohio Story Worse And Worse ... Bush AG Ashcroft Involved In Vote Suppression:
"Blackwell decided to toss out the ballots of anyone who showed up at the wrong precinct -- a move guaranteed to disenfranchise Democrats who live in urban areas crowded with multiple polling places. On October 14th, Judge Carr overruled the order, but Blackwell appealed. In court, he was supported by his friend and campaign contributor Tom Noe (n.b. - also a convicted felon, see below), who joined the case as an intervenor on behalf of the secretary of state.  He also enjoyed the backing of Attorney General John Ashcroft, who filed an amicus brief in support of Blackwell's position -- marking the first time in American history that the Justice Department had gone to court to block the right of voters to vote. The Sixth Circuit, stacked with four judges appointed by George W. Bush, sided with Blackwell."

Bush Thanks Convicted Felon For Service In 2004 Election Fraud:
As noted here earlier, "GOP fund-raiser Tom Noe admitted ... that he used politicians, former aides to Gov. Bob Taft, coworkers, and friends to illegally pour thousands of dollars into the effort to reelect President Bush.  Noe entered a guilty plea before U.S. District Court Judge David Katz in Toledo to all three felony charges he faced for violating federal campaign finance law.  As Bobby Kennedy Jr. notes in Rolling Stone, Bush was particularly thankful to Noe for his work on that election: "I want to thank the grassroots activists. I want to thank my friend, Bernadette Noy and Tom Noy (sic) for their leadership in Lucas County."

Jeebus.  Just chew that over for a while.  When are we going to wake up and kick these crooks out?

Biggest Election Fraud In The History Of The Universe:
"Republicans prevented more than 350,000 voters in Ohio from casting ballots or having their votes counted -- enough to have put John Kerry in the White House ... Nearly half of the 6 million American voters living abroad never received their ballots ... after the Pentagon unaccountably shut down a state-of-the-art Web site used to file overseas registrations ... A consulting firm called Sproul & Associates ... was discovered shredding Democratic registrations ... In New Mexico, which was decided by 5,988 votes malfunctioning machines mysteriously failed to properly register a presidential vote on more than 20,000 ballots ... Nationwide ... as many as 1 million ballots were spoiled by faulty voting equipment -- roughly one for every 100 cast."

Worst President In The History Of The Universe:
"... George W. Bush to the top of the list when American voters pick the worst U.S. President in the last 61 years. Bush is named by 34 percent of voters, followed by Richard Nixon at 17 percent ... American voters disapprove 58 - 35 percent of the job Bush is doing, compared to 58 - 36 percent in a March 2 survey. Even voters in red states, where Bush's margin was more than 5 percent in 2004, disapprove 52 - 39 percent ... American voters say 56 - 39 percent that going to war in Iraq was the wrong thing to do."

More Subpoenas For Republican Leaders:
"Sounds like it's subpoena time for House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jerry Lewis (R-CA) ... San Bernardino County, Calif., has been subpoenaed by a federal grand jury for records connected to House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jerry Lewis and a lobbying firm with strong ties to Lewis, a county official said..."

Bush & GOP Response To Deficits, Social Security Shortfall: Give Millions To Super-Rich:
"... the Senate is getting ready to repeal the estate tax yet again, having abandoned last year's attempt because even to Republicans it seemed kind of crass in the wake of Hurricane Katrina ...  A more modest reform that exempted estates under $3.5 million and capped the top rate at 45% ... is still unacceptable to the barons of the Republican Party, who want to repeal the tax altogether and are being amply rewarded for their fealty to the wealthiest families in America ... repealing the estate tax entirely would cost nearly $1 trillion over ten years."

Lies, Damn Lies, And Anything Bush & Republican Leaders Say:
"We were told by the president that the Iraq war was the critical battle in the war on terror, an effort of enormous stakes that we couldn't possibly lose. And then he went to war with half the troops necessary to win, with no plan for the aftermath, and refused to budge even when this became obvious to anyone with eyes and a brain ... But it's not just the Iraq war and it's not just Bush. It's the entire Republican leadership. For example, they claim to be worried about nuclear terrorism ... They claim to be concerned about the future financial impact of Social Security deficits ... They claim that democracy promotion is the cornerstone of their foreign policy ... They just say these things because they're convenient.  It's this simple: these guys say a lot of stuff they don't believe. Their words are largely meaningless."

Hate To Say He Told You So, But ...
"In its September 2004 issue, Washington Monthly magazine invited 16 smart political observers -- a mix of Republicans, Democrats and independents -- to write short essays predicting what would happen if George Bush won a second term ... The one commentator who got it exactly right was Kevin Drum, who runs the magazine's blog. "What do we have to look forward to if George W. Bush is elected to a second term?" he asked. 'One word: scandal.'"

WWJD?
Imagine a scenario where lawbreaking fundraisers, partisan polling machine manufacturers, and vote-suppressing politicians conspire to flip a national election to a business-friendly, partially reformed drunk.  Imagine that the outcome of this marred election leads to a re-orientation of the Supreme Court that strips away protections for government workers who would blow the whistle on illegal activities by their superiors.  Imagine that the illegitimate product of this election fiddling, the "bastard president" as it were, willfully ignores evidence of impending terrorist attacks, in order to bolster his advisors' long-contemplated case for invading an oil-rich middle eastern dictatorship - and that thousands upon thousands of people die as a result.  

Imagine ... just as an intellectual exercise, of course.  Well ... what would Jefferson do? (THOMAS Jefferson, that is)

Infantile Squabbling In Bush Admin - Shouldn't We Hire Adults For The Iran Issue?
"Condoleezza Rice just really pissed off John Bolton, who ... is seething about Rice's offer of direct negotiations with Iran ... Rice not only has to manage the Iranian response to her initiative but has to manage Vice President Cheney's team -- including John Bolton -- who will try to undermine her at every step ... what is not clear is whether (Bush) is going to give his complete support to Rice or whether he is going to sit on a perch while his closest advisors slash each other over this."

Leadership From The Roots: Another Town Council Votes For Impeachment
"Brookline followed the lead of Cambridge and a handful of communities in Vermont when Town Meeting members voted, 104 to 52, to call on the state's congressional representatives to impeach President Bush. In the final minutes of the fourth night of Town Meeting, on the last of the articles, they supported a resolution declaring that Bush has 'repeatedly violated his oath of office' by purposely misleading the country as he launched the war in Iraq."

The Health Ranger Speaks Out:
"Describing Bush as a war criminal or a lawbreaker is not a statement of political persuasion, it is an ironclad statement of fact. Taking a nation to war where no such war has been declared by Congress is an illegal act (as anyone who actually read the Constitution would know). Using depleted uranium on civilian populations in Iraq is an international war crime, even according to several treaties which the United States has signed ... Bush's recent declaration that he is above the law (which emerged during the illegal domestic surveillance fiasco) should have alarm bells going off in the minds of all Americans."

Growing Awareness Of The Case For Impeachment:
"Rank-and-file Democrats want--badly want--to see President Bush get impeached. So do independents. I hear it from everyone I meet ... The broad mass of the American public wants to be shed of this disastrous administration, and does not want to have to endure two more years of war, deceit, incompetence and politicization of every issue ... The American people understand that this president is a danger to the country, and a threat to the Republic. The American people realize that this president and his administration have been a wrecking ball, destroying the military, America's image abroad, the national economy, the education system, the healthcare system, pensions and the lives of ordinary working Americans."

Librarians: The Thin Line Between Your Privacy And Big Brother:
"Connecticut librarians spoke about their fight to stop the FBI from gaining access to patrons' library records at a news conference yesterday organized by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) ... were served with a National Security Letter (NSL) in August of last year as part of the FBI's attempt to attain access to patron's records ... According to an ABC News report, Assistant Attorney General William Moschella told members of Congress that 9,254 National Security Letters were issued in 2005 ..."

Remember Ohio 2004, Volume II ... Some Votes Counted More Than Others:
"A damning and detailed feature article, written by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., for Rolling Stone and documenting evidence of the theft of the 2004 Presidential Election is set to hit newstands this Friday ... The online version of the article will be posted tomorrow (Thursday) morning.  The article -- headlined on the cover as "Did Bush Steal the 2004 Election?: How 350,000 Votes Disappeared in Ohio" -- has been several months in development and will contend that a concerted effort was undertaken by high-level Republican officials to steal the Election in Ohio -- and thus the country -- in 2004 ..."

Remember Ohio In 2004? Every Vote Counted ...
"GOP fund-raiser Tom Noe admitted today that he used politicians, former aides to Gov. Bob Taft, coworkers, and friends to illegally pour thousands of dollars into the effort to reelect President Bush.  Noe entered a guilty plea before U.S. District Court Judge David Katz in Toledo to all three felony charges he faced for violating federal campaign finance law ... Noe, 51, was indicted in October on three charges related to the funneling of more then $45,000 into the Bush campaign at a $2,000-a-seat fund-raiser in Columbus in October, 2003. The Bush campaign later named Noe a “Pioneer” for raising at least $100,000 overall."

The Revolution Begins In Pennsylvania.  Again.
"The situation for Pennsylvania Republicans is rapidly collapsing statewide. The residency issue has clearly become a major problem for Santorum. Two weeks ago, in a major conservative stronghold, Democrats won a special election for the Pennsylvania state Senate by 13%. Also on the May 16th primary, Democratic turnout was over 30% higher than Republican turnout. Rendell has moved form being the primary Republican target among Governors in 2006 to becoming a pretty safe incumbent. Lois Murphy ... Joe Sestak ... and Patrick Murphy ... have all become serious challengers to Republican held congressional seats ... Bush's approval rating in Pennsylvania has sunk to an astounding 28-70."

Paulson Nomination A Sign Of Crumbling Bush Foundation:
"There's no better sign that Bush is weak than the nomination of a liberal Republican like Paulson.  This is a big and deep betrayal of his base.  Bush is nominating someone who acknowledges the perils of global warming and is a strong environmentalist ... The question is will the right allow someone from the reality-based community to take the position?"

Bush Pioneers, Convicted Felons:
Help Josh count up just how many Bush pioneers will be spending many long years in jail (unless pardoned by his majesty, of course ...)

Corruption Deepens In Bush Cabinet:
"After serving for five years as Interior Secretary in the Bush Cabinet, Gale Norton ... quietly stepped down ... Norton's sudden exit was almost certainly hastened by the widening fallout from the corruption probes into Jack Abramoff ... To replace Norton, Bush called upon his old pal Dirk Kempthorne, the Idaho governor and former US Senator ... Kempthorne goes to straight to the corporations who want something done in Boise: JR Simplot, the potato king; Boise-Cascade, the timber giant; mining companies, such as ASARCO, Hecla, and FMC Gold; and the power companies. And Kempthorne gives them what they want. Kempthorne is Jack Abramoff without the middleman, decision-maker and lobbyist rolled into one."

Republicans Step Up Voter Suppression Efforts As 2006 Elections Approach:
"... elected officials go out of their way to discourage voting. States are adopting rules that make it hard, and financially perilous, for nonpartisan groups to register new voters. They have adopted new rules for maintaining voter rolls that are likely to throw off many eligible voters, and they are imposing unnecessarily tough ID requirements ... many of these rules seem motivated by a partisan desire to suppress the vote, and particular kinds of voters, rather than to make sure that those who are entitled to vote - and only those who are entitled - do so. The right to vote is fundamental, and Congress and state legislatures should not pass laws that put an unnecessary burden on it. If they do, courts should strike them down."

Bush-Stacked Court Strips Whistleblower Protections As GOP Corruption Spikes:
"The Supreme Court scaled back protections for government workers who blow the whistle on official misconduct Tuesday, a 5-4 decision in which new Justice Samuel Alito cast the deciding vote. In a victory for the Bush administration, justices said the 20 million public employees do not have free-speech protections ... impact would be sweeping, from silencing police officers who fear retribution for reporting department corruption, to subduing federal employees who want to reveal problems with government hurricane preparedness or terrorist-related security."

Impeach Bush ... Cheney ... Gonzales?
"Republican Rep. James Sensenbrenner said he'll demand that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and FBI Director Robert Mueller testify before his House Judiciary Committee to explain their roles in the 'profoundly disturbing' search of Jefferson's office. Sensenbrenner even went so far as to toss around the I-word -- at least where Gonzales is concerned -- with his Republican colleague Darrell Issa. As Dana Milbank tells it, Issa said: 'We have the power to impeach the attorney general' but then added that the committee -- short on members because of the Memorial Day break – couldn't do so because it was 'a couple of shakes short of a quorum for that purpose.'"

Careful What You Wish For:
Failed comic book auteur Karl Zinsmeister, Bush’s replacement for the shoplifting prior domestic policy chief (see yesterday's post), said of journalists in Iraq on 3/28/03: 'A significant number are whiny and appallingly soft ... I almost wished there would be a very loud explosion very nearby just to shut up their rattling.' Today, Reuters reports that 'the number of journalists who have died in hostile incidents in Iraq has risen to 71 - the same number killed or presumed dead during the Vietnam War.'

Gore Hammers Bush On Immorality, Incuriosity, Contempt For Public Interest:
"(the Bush White House) is a great disappointment ... the brazenness of it is surprising ... to take the chief propagandist in charge of the disinformation campaign funded by ExxonMobil ... and make that person the person in charge of all White House environmental policy ... to empower him to censor scientific EPA reports to conform to the economic desires of the biggest polluters in the country ... that should shock people ... almost every key position that affects environmental policy has been filled ... by propagandists for the polluters ... it is horribly unethical and immoral ..."

"... what surprises me most is his incuriousity ... it is a puzzle that he would ask no questions about important matters ... when his first Secretary of the Treasury came in for their first meeting and spoke for an hour about economic policies ... when he received the briefing in August of 2001 that Osama Bin Laden was planning a major attack soon on the United States ... when when he was briefed several days before hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and the weather service people were saying it may mark a return to medieval conditions ... he did not ask a single question ... he doesn't apparently look under the rug - he doesn't ask questions ... the President is the only person (in our system) charged with looking after the welfare of the people as a whole ... the  President should at least ask questions about how the public interest is affected ..."

ExxonMobil Exec To Get $160M Payout From Bush "Tax Relief" Plan For Super-Rich:
"Democrats have prepared for an upcoming Senate battle over repeal of the estate tax by releasing estimated savings the repeal could equal for oil executives and members of the Bush Administration ... 99 percent of the estate tax is paid by the highest-earning 5 percent of Americans, a report released by the Democrats indicates that CEO's of major oil companies stood to gain significantly from a repeal. Democrats' estimates put oil company gains at at least a "$200 million windfall." The family of one oil executive, Lee Raymond ... alone stood to receive a tax break worth over $160 million."

Bush Hires Bad Comic Book Author To Replace Shoplifter As Policy Chief:
"Karl Zinsmeister. He's quite the guy. A liar, of course, and completely full of shit but he's perfect to replace the person who was arrested for shoplifting toiletries from Target. In an administration that cares nothing for policy, these jobs are all just patronage gigs. And old Karl has been a good little wingnut. He deserves a nice Whitehouse gig on his resume ... This guy has gone on to advise the president of the United States about domestic policy, which he seems highly qualified to do. He's a comic book writer for a cartoon administration."

More Echoes Of Nixon In Cheney Shadow Government:
"This report is also a good reminder of why some of us don't trust the FBI to be the good guys in these political battles and why we think there should be pretty strict separation of powers and very strong oversight. Police agencies have a tendency to forget their limitations. And so do presidents ... Cheney has been upfront about this from the get. He believed that the nation was better served when someone like Nixon could do whatever he wanted. He believes that the FBI should be able to do what he thinks is necessary to "protect" to country from people like me. He just simply believes that the presidency should be more powerful than the other two branches (as long as a Republican occupies it, of course ...)"

Cheney-Condi Catfight While Bush Fiddles, Rome Burns:
"The question now is who will come in after Zoellick. Sources have told TWN that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice prefers to appoint Nick Burns as her DepSec.  But Cheney may use his influence to block Burns, whom many consider to be too much of a "diplomatic type". During the recent UN Security Council skirmishes with Russia and China over how to deal with Iran, John Bolton and various other Cheney acolytes began a whisper campaign against Nick Burns ... It will be interesting to watch the sides square off, and whomever does succeed Zoellick will give some indication of the relative strengths of Rice and Cheney in the administration."

Murtha: Bush-Rumsfeld Iraq F**kups Help Al Quaeda Recruit Terrorists:
"Well, what I worry about Wolf is [that] this happened six months ago and you heard nothing about it. As a matter of fact, the original story was that an [improvised explosive device] killed these 15 people. It became very confusing to the public. Time Magazine came out with an article and (the Pentagon) still tried to cover it up ... And the longer it goes the worse it is for us, because it looks like it's our policy to do something like this... This helps [al Qaeda] recruit terrorists."

More GOP Leaders Linked To Abramoff Scandal:
"A convicted lobbyist described Tuesday how he obtained insider information and advice from Bush administration procurement chief David Safavian to advance two projects for Republican influence-peddlar Jack Abramoff, who then took the official on a lavish golf trip to Scotland.  A partner of Abramoff's at the time, Neil Volz also outlined in U.S. District Court how the Abramoff team received assistance from several Republican congressmen or their aides including, Rep. Bob Ney of Ohio, Rep. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Rep. Don Young of Alaska and Rep. Steven LaTourette of Ohio."

Methodist Leader Calls For Bush Impeachment:
"The Methodists' chief social-issues spokesman, Jim Winkler, believes Congress should 'impeach President Bush' ... Winkler's complaint: 'The attack on Iraq was sold to our people on lies, and the war itself was an illegal war of aggression" that included things such as 'unconstitutional' National Security Agency surveillance ... Methodists are America's third-largest religious body. The bishops of the largest, Roman Catholicism, said before the Iraq invasion that they questioned the morality of pre-emptive and unilateral action and saw no grave danger of Iraqi attacks or evidence that that nation was involved in Sept. 11."

Media-Industrial Complex Concealing Bush Lies:
"... a clear and consistent pattern of under-reporting stories that would be damaging to Bush -- a pattern that began before Bush even took office ... Remember: President Bush is a man who has lied about everything from what kind of cheese he likes on his cheesesteaks to why he sent thousands of American troops to die in Iraq ... Evidence, facts, logic, and reason simply don't matter when it comes to media coverage of politicians. Journalists have decided: George Bush is authentic and honest, no matter how many lies he tells ... "

Cheney Shadow Govt Shaping Legislation, Instructing Bush:
"... instead of following the constitutional mandate, the Executive Branch is now effectively legislating on its own ... Reagan Administration’s signing statement architect thinks that Bush has gone way, way over the line ... engineer of all of this ... has been Dick Cheney, and his legal surrogate, David Addington ... A roving Executive Branch commission to get involved in any legislation that interested Dick Cheney or David Addington before it ever hit the President’s desk ... he fact that this has now been ongoing for five years — with no real pushback from the Rubber Stamp Republican Congress — is appalling."

GOP Paying Corruption Price At The Polls:
"Staffers from the National Republican Congressional Committee are quietly telling GOP House members to prepare for a possible loss in the June 6 special election to fill the seat of Randy "Duke" Cunningham, now in prison for taking bribes ... the NRCC has already pumped $3.1 million into the race ...  longtime Republican operative ... says 'It's the stink of Cunningham, and the Bush problem.'"

Expanding Iraq Violence, Regional Instability - The Price Of Bush Lies:
"... the U.S. military has just become another militia in Iraq ... Iraq is on the verge of genuine sectarian meltdown ... had America withdrawn from Iraq a year ago, its departure might have forestalled the civil war that ... is now underway ... the cork will blow off. The Shiite will attempt to wipe Iraq clean of Sunnis -- and neighboring nation Sunnis will pour into Iraq, possibly creating a major regional conflagration ..."

Gingrich Supports Bush Dynasty Expansion, Finds Jeb & Grover "Innovative":
"... don't underestimate Jeb Bush's prospects as a future presidential contender, says former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich.  Probably '08 is a little bit tricky, but " '12 or '16 isn't. And he's a young enough guy (53) that he has a great future,' Gingrich said ... "I just think his natural, personal ability is so great ... He's a very unique, charismatic leader with extraordinary capabilities. ... Jeb Bush may well be the most innovative (governor) in the entire country.'"
 
"Grover Norquist is 'the person who I regard as the most innovative, creative, courageous and entrepreneurial leader of the anti-tax efforts and of conservative grassroots activism in America . . . He has truly made a difference and truly changed American history..."

BushCo Under Investigation For Planting Fake News:
"Federal authorities are actively investigating dozens of American television stations for broadcasting items produced by the Bush administration and major corporations, and passing them off as normal news. Some of the fake news segments talked up success in the war in Iraq ... over a 10-month period at least 77 television stations were making use of the faux news broadcasts ... Among items provided by the Bush administration to news stations was one in which an Iraqi-American in Kansas City was seen saying 'Thank you Bush. Thank you USA' in response to the 2003 fall of Baghdad. The footage was actually produced by the State Department ..."

Pachacutec Remembers The Memorial Day Bush Forgot:
"Bushco has enslaved Americans into a psychological reign of 'War on Terror' that amounts to a criminal protection racket.  We are told we must be afraid.  That is, we are told we must live in terror.  This is to protect us from. . . terror.  Then, because we feel terrified, we must give up our freedom - freedom to write what we believe without fear of reprisal, freedom of due process and habeas corpus protection, freedom from secret intrusion into our private lives by government.  Today is Memorial Day.  Today we remember countless patriots who died and fought for those freedoms our president tells us we must abandon. . . in the name of 'freedom.'"

   

Cheney Calling The Shots On Bush's Extra-Judicial Signing Statements:
"Bush has used signing statements more than 750 times to effectively override legislation without going through the constitutionally laid out veto process ... this extra-juridical effort comes directly out of the office of the Vice President ... by effectively vetoing these hundreds of pieces of legislation with signing statements rather than actual vetoes, President Bush is effectively denying the Congress -- and thus the American people ... -- an opportunity to make their voices heard ... The precedent the Bush administration -- and in particular the Vice President and his chief of staff -- are setting today is dangerous."

Senior GOP Senator Sees Light, Admits Middle East Worse Under Bush:
"... President Bush delivered the commencement address at West Point and declared that his global war on terror is helping to spread freedom in the Middle East ... on Meet the Press, Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, delivered a strong rebuke of Bush’s assessment of what’s going on in the Middle East ... Hagel isn’t alone in making his argument that the Middle East is worse off since the Iraq invasion ... Iraq mirrors a wider and troubling trend throughout this region that is being fostered by Bush ...  Once stable Arab countries are slowly polarizing and fragmenting into smaller units of ethnic, religious and tribal identities ..."

What's Really Driving Hastert in Congressional Corruption Theatrics
"Earlier this month, we found out that the Duke Cunningham case was expanding and that the Duke case investigators were requesting documents from Congress as part of their probe into the roles of other members of Congress ... Denny Hastert knows what's coming down the pike. He's taking the opportunity of the Jefferson search warrant to float this specious constitutional argument and clip the investigators' wings on the most politically favorable terms."

Bush's Global War On Truth
"With any luck, our children will inherit a nation unthreatened by the insidious menace of unfiltered truth!

Bush GOP Planning Continued Dynasty With Jeb?
"Republican Party leaders continue to talk seriously about a continuation of the dynasty, a Bush III administration, with Jeb as a candidate in 2012 or 2016, when the memory of the current president's dismal poll ratings will be less of a factor ..."

The Ownership Society Begins To Crumble
"Today, foreclosure ... is a problem facing a growing number of Americans, who are finding themselves one crisis away from financial ruin. RealtyTrac, an industry organization that maintains a nationwide database of foreclosures, says mortgage defaults between January and March of this year numbered 323,102 compared with 188,122 during the same period last year — an increase of 72 percent."
Hat tip to Atrios.

Bush Fails To Get Finance Professional For Treasury, Dredges Up Oil Man
"President Bush is leaning toward having his old friend Donald Evans take over the Treasury Department after an effort to woo a Wall Street star failed ... Evans, a friend of Bush's for 30 years who has spent most of professional life in the oil industry ... was expected to spend the weekend with Bush at Camp David ... consideration of Evans marks a shift in potential candidates from Wall Streeters to Bush insiders ...>"

ACLU Full Court Press Despite Bush Effort To Conceal Phone Co. Spying
"Anticipating that the US federal government would invoke the so-called "state secrets" privilege to block any lawsuit calling for the disclosure of details about allegations that phone companies shared customer records with the government's biggest spy agency, a major civil rights group has embarked on an alternate course. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed complaints in more than 20 individual states demanding that their utility commissions and attorneys-general convene public hearings and call phone company executives to testify."


When Will Bush, Cheney And Rove Invoke "I Forgot" Defense Too?
"Borrowing a defense used by tax evaders and schoolkids who don't do their homework, Vice President Cheney's indicted former top adviser told a grand jury he forgot that seven people told him about CIA spy Valerie Plame. ... Cheney, (Libby's) boss, was among those who told Libby that an Iraq war critic's wife worked at the CIA, prosecutors allege. But Libby said in his now-unsealed 2004 testimony that 'it seemed to me' he heard about Plame 'for the first time' from NBC broadcaster Tim Russert in July 2003. Russert denies telling Libby that former Ambassador Joseph Wilson's wife was an undercover spy - a disclosure now at the center of a scandal rocking the White House."

Corruption Running Out Of Control Under GOP White House & Congress
"The FBI said that more than 600 agents were assigned to public corruption investigations and more than 2,000 investigations were underway at the federal, state and local levels. Some observers said prosecutors and investigators viewed corruption as a growth industry at a time when the number of new cases of terrorism and corporate fraud was starting to slow. The corporatist Republicans' K Street Project mentality is no longer limited to Washington, DC but has rather seeped all the way down to state capitols and other cities around the country. And the results of this disturbing trend are corruption investigation and plain old bad government."