Democrat leaders have asked for an investigation into domestic spying.  However, the Whitehouse continues to deny it has broken the law yet continues to admit spying on the American people without sealed warrants from the FISA court.

In a letter released Monday, 18 House Democrats told Bush that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales should appoint a special counsel to investigate the Whitehouse FISA violations. They stated that their efforts to get answers to legal and factual questions about the program have been stymied "generally based on the feeblest of excuses."

"If the effort to prevent vigorous and appropriate investigation succeeds, we fear the inexorable conclusion will be that these executive branch agencies hold themselves above the law and accountable to no one," wrote the lawmakers, led by Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) a member of the Judiciary and Homeland Security committees.

In the past the Whitehouse has always insisted that congressional approval for the president to go to war in 2001 gives Bush the right to spy on the American people, maintaining a vague allusion to authority to use military force to fight terrorism.

Recently, when asked at a press conference on February 27 about the letter the Democrats wrote, McClellen said the breaking of the law is a“hot pursuit effort aimed at detection and prevention of attacks before they occur”, consistently playing the fear card as an excuse to break the law. 

He went on to claim that his lawyers (Bush appointed lawyers) said it was OK, therefore it has been “reviewed extensively”.  He also said there was no basis for a special council investigation and said the real criminals are the whistleblowers who are putting our country in jeopardy by exposing their illegal spying.

With a Republican controlled congress, Bush has never had to exercise his veto power, but his threats for veto tell the real story about what he thinks is important.  Let’s review some recent Bush veto threats that show his true colors:

- January 2004, Bush threatens to veto a gentler version of the Patriot Act that would partially restore the privacy rights Americans had before 9/11. 
- April 2005, Bush threatened to veto any legislation that would change the Medicare drug benefit that would result in allowing the government to negotiate lower costs with drug companies.
- May 2005, Bush threatened to veto any legislation that would provide public funding to stem cell research.
October 2005, Bush threatened to veto an amendment to a Pentagon spending bill that sets standards for the treatment of prisoners in U.S. military custody.
- November 2005, Bush threatened to veto a bill that would cut taxes for citizens that would be offset by raising taxes for oil companies. (This the year the oil companies have posted record profits)
- Last, but not least, in February 2006 Bush threatened to veto any legislation that would keep the UAE from taking over port security in America.  (Who cares he didn’t know a damn thing about the deal in the first place).

We’re in good hands, aren’t we?

Six years of ruling with an iron fist makes it hard to back down.  After all, when you are always right, how can you possibly admit you may have been a bit hasty? The Bush administration has spent 6 years trying to convince Americans that Arabs are the enemy and it’s making it hard for them to make the Congress roll over as usual.

The newest spin on the Dubai Port deal has the UAE company itself asking Congress to review the transaction.  Dubai executives and lobbyists are hard at work trying to sway the Republican congressional leaders who have been threatening to support some form of Congressional action next week including legislation to block the company from taking over.

Their first attempt to quell the controversy was an offer from Dubai on Thursday to close the deal but to "segregate" the American operations until further briefings were conducted on Capitol Hill.  Fortunately Congress did not buy it.

Bagdad is still under a curfew resulting from violence that has erupted between the Shia and Sunni factions in Iraq.  The BBC news is reporting 136 deaths since the unrest erupted. 

It began with the Sunni’s bombing one of the Shia’s holiest sites, the al-Askari shrine in Samarra.  Since then the Sunni’s and Shia’s have been trading car bombs and shrine bombings.   Because of all the car bombs, the Iraq government has put a ban on cars in Bagdad.

Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari has vowed the government will rebuild the Shia shrine and Sunni holy sites attacked in revenge for the al-Askari bombing.  Hopefully Halliburton will not be given the contract or it will never get rebuilt.

US President George W Bush has urged restraint, saying: "This is a moment of choosing for the Iraqi people." 

In September 2004 the CIA warned Bush a civil war could be brewing, but in true arrogant fashion he dismissed the warnings….much like he dismissed the memo warning of Bin Ladens attack.

So much for Republican prowess in foreign policy. There is a nice summary of the events leading up to the civil war published by Think Progress that is well worth the read.

Yesterday Bush vowed to veto any legislation from Congress that would block the sale of operations at six top U.S. seaports to a company controlled by the government of Dubai (CSX Corporation).  Quite a strong stance considering that the decision was made without Bush’s knowledge.  When initially asked about the deal two days ago, Bush said he was not aware of it.  Now he’s touting the indepth process behind the decision. 

Not only does Bush want to jepordize our port security by handing it over to a company from a country that produced two of the 9/11 hijackers, some democratic senators are raising concerns about a link between the treasury secretary’s former employer and the Arab company.

Treasury Secretary in the Bush Adminstration since 2003, John Snow, worked for about 20 years at the CSX as chairman and CEO. In December 2004, after Snow had left CSX, that company’s port business was sold to Dubai Ports World in a deal worth more than $1 billion. Snow received $72.2 million in compensation from CSX in 2003, including $33.2 million from a special retirement pension, Dodd said, citing press reports. Dodd said the press reports also said that Snow had a stake in a CSX deferred compensation plan worth between $5 million and $25 million.

Reminds me of Cheney and Halliburton.

 The Congress (and I mean ALL of the Congress) is not happy with this deal.  Neither are the American people.  It’s about time we grew another branch of government. 

Unless you have been living in a cave, you have heard of the Cheney shooting.  Some facts are here for posterity.  Cheney and one of his 78-year old lawyer friends, HarryWhittington,  went hunting on  Katherine Armstrong’s Ranch in South Texas last week when Cheney shot Whittingon in the face.  The press was livid that Cheney and company (his lawyer friend and two other women - Katherine Armstrong and Pamela Willeford, US ambassador to Switzerland) covered up the incident for over night before releasing information. 

After the heat was turned up by the white house press corps, Cheney decided to run to Fox news for an interview.  Fox convienently left out the video in which his interviewer, Brit Hume, asked Cheney if there was any drinking.  Cheney said he had a beer at lunch hours before the incident.

MSNBC also participated in the cleansing.   Dan Abrams is on MSNBC giving Cheney a pass, saying that "The Vice President didn’t do anything wrong" and finding nothing irregular about the fact that he was not interviewed by law enforcement officials for 15 hours after the incident.   Catherine Armstrong told MSNBC,  "There may be a beer or two in there," she said, ‘but remember not everyone in the party was shooting.’".  Later the network removed that quote from the transcript.

 The Nation Magazine reported that Cheney has a previous troubles with irresponsible alcohol consumption.  They reported Cheney was thrown out of Yale for drinking and garnered two DUI’s during his college years.

For those of us that are not Vice-President of the United States who shoot hunting companions in Webb County Texas, they don’t get quite the pass. From the San Antonio Express-News, June 3, 2003:

Juan Garza Mendoza, 34, an employee of the ranch, was charged Monday with manslaughter, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison….

Mendoza had apparently hit Barrera Vasquez while shooting at a feral hog, and immediately contacted authorities after the shooting, Hurd said.

Sheriff Garza said interviews with three of the victim’s Mexican traveling companions and the others in the ranch hunting party led him to rule out anything but an accidental shooting.

"They mistakenly shot a human being," he said. "It’s reckless. It’s inexcusable."

George Deutsch is a 24-year old Young Republican that George Bush thought would make a good public affairs appointee at NASA.  He just resigned on February 7 when it was discovered he had no degree from Texas A&M university as he had claimed. 

Deutsch lied Just like Brownie (Micheal Brown), former head of FEMA who claimed to be a professor at Central State University and was merely a student that didn’t even graduate.

An example of George’s ineptness (Deutsch, that is), he told a Web designer working for the NASA to add the word "theory" after every mention of the Big Bang, according to an e-mail message from Mr. Deutsch that another NASA employee forwarded to The New York Times.  

George Deutsch, 24, was offered a job as a writer and editor in NASA’s public affairs office in Washington in 2004 after working on President Bush’s re-election campaign and inaugural committee, according to his résumé.  Also according to his résumé, George Deutsch received a Bachelor of Arts in journalism, Class of 2003.

The New York times decided to check this out and they reported yesterday that Rita Presley, assistant to the registrar at the university, verified he did attend but in an e-mail said "George Carlton Deutsch III did attend (the university) but has not completed the requirements for a degree"

DOH!  Now his legacy is he’s just another Republican Dolt.  What a sad adminstration Bush has thown together when he appoints a 24-year old Deutsch bag to lead NASA public affairs.

Since when do Republicans care about funerals? They create them on a daily basis for our poor boys in Iraq. Since when do they care about Black Civil Rights leaders?  There was no crying after the funeral of Rosa Parks last November. And Bush has even refused to personally address the NAACP.

But when King and Queen George Bush have to sit on stage through the Mother of all Snaps, they tend to get a little peeved.

Rev. Joseph Lowery, a co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference who worked for decades with the Kings, made the following remarks during Coretta King’s marathon, 6-hour funeral yesterday (as Bush Jr. and Laura sat on stage, trying to look interested):

"She (Coretta King) extended Martin’s message against poverty, racism and war. She deplored the terror inflicted by our smart bombs on missions way afar. We know now that there were no weapons of mass destruction over there (applause and cheering). But Coretta knew, and we know, that there are weapons of misdirection right down here. Millions without health insurance. Poverty abounds. For war, billions more, but no more for the poor."

This was no different that the remarks Lowery made at Rosa Park’s funeral last November:

50 million people in this country with no health insurance. That’s a weapon of mass destruction. Minimum wage is a weapon of mass destruction. And in the spirit of Rosa Parks, as I take my seat, we must sacramentally understand that drug addiction and drug selling is a weapon of mass self-destruction, and in the spirit of Rosa Parks, we must rise up and sacramentally share that addiction. Finally, we must understand in the spirit of Rosa Parks, in the spirit of saintly womanhood, we must teach our young people as children to stop having children; that’s a weapons of mass self-destruction.

Lowery receive much applause each time he invoked the "no weapons of mass destruction" phase. 

Even former President Jimmy Carter took hits from the defensive Right.  Regarding the slow and misguided response to Hurricane Katrina, Carter stated, "We only have to recall the color of the faces of those in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi who are most devastated by Katrina to know that there are not yet equal opportunities for all Americans."

Carter also brought up that the Kings were victims of "secret government wiretapping and surveillance" and that Coretta and Martin King has the "sanctities of their marriage interfered with" because of this "unlawful surveillance". 

Right on, Jimmy.  Republican commentators are spinning in their chairs over that one. Republican spinsters tossing around accusations of unappropriate behavior at a funeral probably all thought the Civil Rights movement was just a big pain in the pocketbook.

Finally, God bless Coretta King and Rosa Parks.  They were brave women of the Civil Rights movement whose peaceful actions made history - without money and without absolute power.  If I were lying in my casket and heard Lowery speaking so boldly about our situation today, I think I would be proud to have invoked such a debate. 

Oh, where will the Republican lying and cheating end? 

The Senate Judiciary committee met this morning to discuss the legalities of the latest Bush Wire Tapping activities.  Remember when the Oil Executives testfied and the Republicans refused to put them under oath?  Well they repeated their selective governing and extended that privledge to Attorney General, Alberto "torture is OK" Gonzales.

When the Democrats forced a vote on the issue, the Chairman of the Committee, Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), declared his yes vote not to put Gonzales under oath, then took it upon himself to appoint himself proxy for Senator Brownback then declare a yes vote for him also.

As expected, the Dems all voted no, thereby voting to put Gonzales under oath.  When the vote got to Fiengold, he requested Specter show him the poxy he received from Brownback (according to Senate rules, it must be written).  Specter backed down just short of admitting he lied, then as the Chairman declared the yes vote prevailed. 

There are 7 Republicans and 6 Democrats in the committee.  In the result of a tie, the Chairman decides. Specter was trying to spare his party embarrassment of having to overule the Dems again, but Feingold forced his hand.

 By allowing Gonzolas to testify not under oath, he can lie to his hearts content and not be procecuted for it.  Nice.

The transcript follows:

SEN. ARLEN SPECTER, CHAIRMAN (R-PA): So the question is, should the ruling of the chair be upheld that Attorney General Gonzales not be sworn?

HATCH (R): Aye.

GRASSLEY (R): Aye.

DEWINE (R): Aye.

GRAHAM (R): Aye.

KYL (R): Aye.

CORNYN (R): Aye.

SPECTER: By proxy, for Sen. Brownback, aye. Sen. Coburn – We’ve got enough votes already. Sen. Leahy?

SEN. PATRICK LEAHY, RANKING DEMOCRAT: Emphatically, no.

KENNEDY (D): No.

BIDEN (D): No.

KOHL (D): No.

FEINSTEIN (D): No.

FEINGOLD (D): No.

SPECTER (R): Aye. The ayes have it.

FEINGOLD: Mr. Chairman, I request to see the proxies given by the Republican senators.

SPECTER: Could you repeat that Sen. Feingold?

FEINGOLD: I request to see the proxies given by the Republican senators.

SPECTER: The practice is to rely upon the staffers. But without counting that vote – Well, we can rephrase the question if there’s any serious challenge of the proxies. This is really not a very good way to begin this hearing.

Specter tries to blame staffers for his last minuite effort, but weilds his Chairman power to squash the honerable efforts of the Dems.  At least he didn’t turn off his mike and stomp away this time.

Porter Goss, Bush’s hand-picked CIA lackey, has told congress that he thinks reports of illegal spying by the media are undermining domestic security.  Aparently he thinks the FISA courts are too chatty to be trusted with sealed legal rulings on wire taps.  Goss also spewed the party line when he announced that those who leaked the information should be punished.  Perhaps they should just shut down the Crime Stoppers line to report illegal activities by the president.

Even some Republican Congress members are thinking twice about Bush’s recent power grab, but Carl Rove has even threatened them to keep their mouths shut.  According to an article in Insight.com:

 The White House has been twisting arms to ensure that no Republican member votes against President Bush in the Senate Judiciary Committee’s investigation of the administration’s unauthorized wiretapping.

 Congressional sources said Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove has threatened to blacklist any Republican who votes against the president. The sources said the blacklist would mean a halt in any White House political or financial support of senators running for re-election in November.

 "It’s hardball all the way," a senior GOP congressional aide said

Hey, once you are in the mob, it’s hard to get out.