Justice Dept. IG Reverses on Wiretapping Oversight ...

"US Justice Department Inspector General Glenn Fine has launched an internal investigation into the DOJ's use of intelligence gathered under the NSA's domestic surveillance program, according to a letter from Fine to Congressional leaders obtained by AP Monday ..."
Wow, what took him so long? Seems like there should have been an investigation AGES ago ...
"After the program was first disclosed last year, inspectors general from both the DOJ and the Defense Department refused requests to investigate the program, with Fine citing a lack of jurisdiction ... "
Ohhhhh. I guess Mr. Fine found himself some jurisdiction after the Dems won the election .... but surely the President and the Attorney General would have worked to clarify things in the interim?
"Attorney General Alberto Gonzales ... said that President Bush personally put an end to the internal OPR investigation ... "
Hmm. Well, if the President ended the investigation, then I guess it's because all was kosher with the wiretapping program, right?
"In August, a federal judge ruled the program unconstitutional ..."
D'oh!

Something's Rotten in Florida's 13th ...

"...evidence continues to mount that whatever problems caused electronic machines not to register a vote in the congressional race for more than 18,000 voters in the county on Election Day, the problem affected Democrats more than Republicans ... 5,304 people whose ballots showed no selection in the congressional race voted a straight Democratic ticket on the five statewide races. He found that 3,290 voted straight Republican. [Republican Vern Buchanan won the official tally by fewer than 400 votes.] ... 'Something's going on there ... But I'm not sure what yet.'"

How many Republicans won in close races during the past 3 elections?

Calling Bullshit on America

I don't know about you, but this pretty much sums up how I've been feeling the last three or four years: Bullshit!

Corrupt Bush Cabinet Member of The Week: Dirk Kempthorne, Interior Secretary

"As if my last report that pesticides are reducing average penis sizes was not alarming enough, we now receive further confirmation that the Bush Adminsitration and the chemical industry are engaging in an improper campaign to exert pressure on EPA scientists and government officials to cover-up the damage pesticides are doing to the growing nervous systems of fetuses, infants, and children ... The scientists accuse the EPA of putting the 'concerns of agriculture and the pesticide industry" before the agency's "responsibility to protect the health of our Nation's citizens.' Of all the moral outrages and lapses of the Bush Administration this has to be among the most corrupt and criminal."

I guess Kempthorne hasn't really done anything to address Delaney's damning testimony about deeply ingrained corruption at the Bush Interior Department ... "Simply stated, short of a crime, anything goes at the highest levels of the Department of the Interior."

No Leadership Position For You!
Impeached Judge Alcee Hastings won't be getting the Intel Committee Chair position. This is good news. Criminal case or no, if someone has been impeached for bribery charges, they have no place in Congressional leadership.

Now that I think of it, if someone used their Congressional office to try to get regulators to ease up on a felon they probably have no place in national leadership, either.

It's Over For Bush
The year 2006 will long be remembered as the Great Retribution ... George W. Bush's presidency is toast ... The losers, starting with Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld, who resigned immediately, deserve no sympathy. They have "ruled"--not governed--with cold arrogance and a frightening willingness to ignore the law, including the Constitution ... By expressing their disgust, voters have made three great gains ... The first is the repudiation of Bush and his corrupt presidency, in which everything was for sale, and scandals--corporate and personal--became commonplace ... The second is the antiwar victory ... The third is the collapse of the conservative order--the right-wing economic agenda that has reigned for a generation and produced so many great injuries to society and the general well-being.

If He's Checked Out, Can't We Just Impeach Him Already?
"I don't hear the president. Not his voice. The one thing that's been a constant over the last three and a half years is the president as the voice of American Iraq policy. Whether he's the author of it is another question entirely. But the voice and pitbull of it, always. And yet since the election he seems to have disappeared from the conversation entirely. Like he's just checked out. It's not his thing anymore..."