Tuesday, November 1, 2005

As conservative activists celebrate "a combination of a wedding reception, Super Bowl party and bar mitzvah," Slate's William Saletan, citing efforts to label critics of judges who supported abortion restrictions as "anti-Catholic bigots," observes that "if Alito is confirmed, Catholics will hold five of the court's seats."

"[I]t was unclear how long Judge Alito would dominate the news of the capital," reports the New York Times, but "By Monday afternoon, six and a half hours after Mr. Bush made the announcement, most of the questions at the daily White House news briefing focused on the continuing leak investigation."

As the 'White House rebuffs calls for shakeup,' David Corn, asking 'Did Cheney know Plame was undercover?', finds it "not unreasonable to wonder if Libby was -- inadvertently or knowingly -- spreading classified information about an undercover officer with the tacit or explicit consent of his boss."

For the second time in three days, Nicholas Kristof calls on Cheney to "tell us what happened. If you're afraid to say what you knew, and when you knew it, then you should resign."

Following a White House 'Personnel Announcement,' Knight Ridder finds 'Cheney's new security adviser linked to bogus information on Iraq,' and his new chief of staff was "a principal author of the White House memo justifying torture of terrorism suspects."

Noting Patrick Fitzgerald's statement that if witnesses had testified when subpoenas were issued in August 2004, "we would have been here in October 2004 instead of October 2005," E.J. Dionne says, "Those dates make clear why Libby threw sand in the eyes of prosecutors ... and helped drag out the investigation."

According to a Google News search, the only other place that Fitzgerald's quote appeared, outside of the transcript of his news conference, was in a column by Robert Scheer. Although Arianna Huffington did say, "Thanks, Judy."

With Democrats accused of 'Fiddling as the World Burns,' Robert Parry maintains that "impeachment is possible -- if enough voters want it to happen."

"'Regime change' in Syria is proceeding along lines suggested by the Iraqi template," writes Justin Raimondo, following Seymour Hersh's claim that the Mehlis Report on the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri, is "built on the same anemic foundations" as Colin Powell's U.N. presentation.

U.S. planning for 'Cuba without Castro' has "entered a new stage," reports the Financial Times, with the Office for Reconstruction and Stabilization leading an "inter-agency effort" which "recognises that the Cuba transition may not go peacefully and that the U.S. may have to launch a nation-building exercise."

In 'The Rise of Disaster Capitalism,' Naomi Klein wrote of the State Department's Office for Reconstruction and Stabilization, "Fittingly, a government devoted to perpetual pre-emptive deconstruction now has a standing office of perpetual pre-emptive reconstruction."

With President Bush "booked for South America this week" where he'll be 'heading into den of leftists,' polls reportedly show that Evo Morales, a "self-confessed follower of Venezuela President Hugo Chavez," could become Bolivia's first Indian president.

Military authorities acknowledge that there have been 36 suicide attempts by detainees at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo, including one by an individual said to have "timed his suicide attempt so that someone other than his guards would witness it."

October reportedly brought "the highest monthly total for roadside bomb deaths since the start of the war," and was "the fourth-deadliest month for U.S. forces since the Iraq war began." Plus: 'Inside the "Baghdad Bomb Squad."'

'The Real Reason' why "the strategic decision by the United States to nuke Iran was probably made long ago," is "just to demonstrate that it can do it," writes Jorge Hirsch, who earlier suggested that "The stage is set for a chain of events that could lead to nuclear war over chemical weapons in the immediate future."

Israel's defense ministry has "barred foreign journalists from entering the Gaza Strip," reports the Guardian, "in an apparent attempt to limit reporting on the killing of Palestinian civilians, the firing of artillery shells and the use of "sonic bombs" to terrify the local population."

The Observer interviews some 'Call center cyber coolies,' after an Indian government-funded study opened "an angry debate over conditions within the country's flagship service industry."

Bipartispin With "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price" set to premier, the company has mobilized a war room that includes "veterans of the 2004 Bush and Kerry presidential campaigns," reports the New York Times. More on 'The Wal-Mart showdown,' and why the recently leaked health care memo shows that "Wal-Mart still doesn't get it."

This Modern World explores 'How The News Works Now,' as Timothy Karr spotlights "the packing of the CPB with individuals more comfortable with selling U.S. propaganda than with honest journalism." Plus: A relationship "built on trust" as 'Ex-White House Favorite Finds New Outlet.'

Editor & Publisher summarizes a Vanity Fair excerpt from former CBS producer Mary Mapes' book, "Truth and Duty," the first chapter of which is available in html.

Vanity Fair's press release quotes Mapes as writing: "We suddenly found ourselves in a war and the network didn't know how to fight wars. The CBS press office was used to creating timeless blurbs such as: 'Hear from Jennifer, the morning after she lost the Tribal Council tiebreaker.'"

Asked by Wolf Blitzer if he regretted posing with his wife for Vanity Fair, Joseph Wilson said: "you've asked me this question three or four times... I have never heard you ask the president about the layout in the Oval Office when they did the war layout. I've never heard you ask Mr. Wolfowitz about the layout in Vanity Fair."

October 31

Wednesday, November 2, 2005

As 'Detainee policy sharply divides Bush officials,' the Washington Post is witholding the names of "several democracies in Eastern Europe" that are thought to be hosting secret CIA-operated prisons.

When a lawyer defending a U.S. Army reservist accused of abusing Bagram detainees inquired as to the whereabouts of alleged victim Omar al-Farouq, he was told that the man "once considered a top al-Qaida operative" had escaped -- on July 10th, according to a Pentagon official.

In addition to 'hinting' at an increase in U.S. troop levels in Iraq, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld also defended the decision not to permit U.N. human rights investigators to meet with Guantanamo detainees, and said it was taken not by the Pentagon but by the U.S. government.

Rumsfeld has endorsed Dorrance Smith as his new chief spokesman, reports the Washington Post, Ignoring "Senate Democrats who are troubled by Smith's allegations of a 'relationship' between U.S. television networks, the al-Jazeera satellite TV channel and terrorist groups."

Knight Ridder reports that fatal casualties among civilian contractors in Iraq have "more than tripled in the past 13 months," in what is described as "one of the rare views in the corporate media into this phenomenon."

Less than 48 hours after a prayer breakfast at which he reportedly offered his "Nightstalker" battalion tearful assurances of safety, a California National Guard colonel became "the highest-ranking American officer to die since the war began."

'Chain of Cheney Fools' Maureen Dowd reminds that the vice president's new national security adviser was the contact for Ahmad Chalabi, whose 'Comeback Tour' is coming to D.C. this month.

In an interview with Larry King, Joseph Wilson gave props to Talking Points Memo and Left Coaster for their coverage of the Niger forgeries, including La Repubblica's series, which Justin Raimondo credits for helping to make "Neocon-gate ... bigger by the day."

After a "screaming temper tantrum," over a "cheap trick" that "worked brilliantly," Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, responding to a "stunned" journalist's observation that "Mr. Leader. I don't remember you being so exercised over something before," replied that "You've never seen me in heart surgery."

October Surmise Columns published on Tuesday by E. J. Dionne, Robert Scheer and Thomas Oliphant, are said to "make it very clear that Patrick Fitzgerald had the goods to indict White House aides for obstructing justice in the CIA leak case as of October of last year." Plus: Happy Anniversary!

There is now renewed interest in Lewis Libby's "The Apprentice," a "1996 entry in the long and distinguished annals of the right-wing dirty novel ... an outlet for ideas that might not fly at, say, the National Prayer Breakfast."

As a Washington Post analysis concludes that 'Nominee's reasoning points to a likely vote against Roe v. Wade,' a new Gallup-conducted poll finds that "if it becomes clear" that Judge Samuel Alito would vote to reverse Roe v. Wade, "Americans would not want the Senate to confirm him, by 53 percent to 37 percent."

President Bush's '$7.1B Flu-Fighting Strategy' "drew immediate fire from critics," including one who questioned "the extent to which 'pandemic' is replacing 'bin Laden' as a political tool."

With Bush claiming that his plan would "help our nation prepare for other dangers -- such as a terrorist attack using chemical or biological weapons," health experts are reportedly concerned that it would also "place the Department of Homeland Security ... in overall command of the government's response should a pandemic erupt."

Although the popular notion that former FEMA heads Joe Allbaugh and Michael Brown were college friends or roommates is not true, according to Allbaugh, the authors of two early stories that stated the two were college friends, tell the St. Petersburg Times that "Brown himself told them of the relationship."

With the Corporation for Public Broadcasting said to be looking "more and more like a parking lot for partisan bureaucrats," an organization that represents 153 public TV stations is reportedly "pushing for a legislative package that would change the composition of the CPB to 'de-politicize' the board."

As thousands vie to attend Rosa Parks' funeral, a CNN viewer sees "a hagiography filled with hypocrisy," whereby "all this rewriting can be translated to the crass thought, 'they don't make colored people the way they used to.'"

Responding to a report that Saddam Hussein agreed to go into exile in February 2003, but "Arab League officials scuttled the proposal," Flagrancy to Reason argues that based on Bush administration statements at the time, "It didn't matter what Saddam did or did not do."

An exiled Saddam could have brought star power to a Donald Trump development on one of the billion-dollar islands being built off the coast of Dubai. They're touted as "The perfect place to leave the world behind," but Reuters reports that "environmentalists say the Gulf's delicate marine ecosystem is paying the price for this perfect escape."

November 1

Thursday, November 3, 2005

Referring to "The latest story from the Dante-esque depths of this administration," which has found a world of takers, Bob Herbert predicts that "Ultimately the whole truth will come out and historians will have their say, and Americans will look in the mirror and be ashamed."

As Bush administration officials are "buffeted by questions about the black sites," Human Rights Watch outs Poland and Romania as "likely locations," after the Washington Post "did not publish the names of Eastern European countries involved in the program, at the request of senior U.S. officials." And, the Red Cross wants in.

A man called a 'Key al-Qaeda figure' by U.S. officials, who was reportedly captured after a shootout in Pakistan, is thought by that country's Information Minister to be not a "high-value" target.

Joseph Galloway describes his trip to the "E Ring office of Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld where the great man waited to do battle with me." Galloway lunched with Rumsfeld, who used the term "people who go on a diet" when asked about the motivation of hunger strikers at Guantanamo.

'Donsense Revisited' It "wasn't Rumsfeld's first attempt to equate prisoners at Guantanamo with guests at a luxury spa," says Left I on the News. More on 'The Rumsfeld Diet.'

House Republicans are reportedly pushing to "knock nearly 300,000 people off nutritional assistance programs."

Respondents to a CBS News poll give President Bush a job approval rating of 35 percent, Vice President Cheney an overall approval rating of 19 percent, and 36 percent say they've heard little or nothing about the CIA leak investigation. And as Bush descends into Nixon country, who's still backing Cheney?

"Bush's top advisers are considering whether it is tenable for Rove to remain on the staff," reports the Washington Post, amid "new indications that he remains in legal jeopardy."

As it's reported that "Official A" may lose his security clearance, Raw Story explains 'How Plame's name got to Libby,' who enters a "Not Guilty" plea.

At a press briefing held in advance of President Bush's trip to South America, National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, asked about his September 9th, 2002, meeting in Washington with the head of Italian intelligence, "seemed to go out of his way to deny allegations that no one is actually making," writes Josh Marshall.

As 'Democrats intensify Bush slams,' the 'White House ducks prewar intel questions,' with spokesman Scott McClellan saying at a press gaggle that Democrats "might want to start with looking at the previous administration and their own statements."

Following an NPR segment in which NBC correspondent David Gregory said that when McClellan "says something that proves to be demonstrably false, it's important that he own up to it," the New York Times reports that "Mr. McClellan's reputation has been left dangling in the glare of the television lights."

A Los Angeles Times analysis concludes that 'Bush War Policy Is Now in Play,' and the Christian Science Monitor reports that "rarely is a senatorial disconnect as pronounced as this one" over "so-called Phase 2."

As Amy Goodman sees 'Dems (Finally) Take a Stand on War Intelligence,' the WSWS has another perspective on 'The short, noisy reign of Harry Reid' and "the glaring contradiction" in what Joshua Frank calls a 'Sham Behind Closed Doors.'

"More than 1,000 students" cut class "to protest the war in Iraq and the presence of military recruiters on campus," reports the Star Tribune, part of a national student walkout organized by Youth Against War and Racism.

'Dozens Die in Violence In Iraq,' including people trying to rescue survivors of a U.S. airstrike, most of whom died when "another plane came and bombed the house again," and two U.S. soldiers who brought the number killed in helicopter crashes to 126.

As Baghdad residents ponder the destruction of a statue commemorating the city's founder, and Iraq amplifies calls for former officers to rejoin the army, 'Chalabi Launches Election Campaign.'

Off-year gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey are reportedly being 'Monitored for Bush Effect,' as Colorado voters say no to smaller government, and "all eyes now turn to California."

As rioting in France 'spreads to 20 towns around Paris,' one commentator calls the rhetoric from the country's interior minister "as polarising as it is simple: it threatens evildoers ('them') with jail sentences if they dare threaten the law-abiding citizens ('us')."

Heckuva Look! Newly released e-mails show that former FEMA director Michael Brown "discussed his appearance, his dog and his public image as the government's relief effort unraveled after Hurricane Katrina," reports Bloomberg.

CNN's Aaron Brown is "looking forward to some well-deserved time off with his family," according to a memo from network head Jon Klein, who "said the switch was done to build CNN's schedule around what he considers its hottest personality ... and hottest new show." And then there's this 'Shocker: Geraldo returns with a thud.'

November 2

Friday, November 4, 2005

In an interview with NPR, Col. Lawrence Wilkerson spoke of "a visible audit trail from the vice president's office through the secretary of defense, down to the commanders in the field," authorizing practices that led to abuse and torture.

A Star Tribune editorial calling for the U.S. to 'dismantle its secret CIA gulag,' asks: "Just how far is this nation willing to follow Cheney's ghastly way in the war on terror?"

The National Security Archive's Peter Kornbluh tells CJR Daily that the Washington Post is guilty of "the most important newspaper capitulation since [the New York Times] yielded to JFK's call for them not to run the full story of planning for the Bay of Pigs."

A Times report that the head of Italian intelligence named "occasional spy" Rocco Martino as the disseminator of the Niger forgeries, and which also revealed that the FBI exonerated the Italian government, prompts the question: "Did the FBI interview Martino before making a conclusive judgment about the forgeries?"

In an ABC News/Washington Post poll that finds 'On Iraq, Economy and Ethics, a Perfect Storm Bedevils Bush,' 55 percent say his administration "intentionally misled" the country on Iraq, while 58 percent 'question his integrity.'

A new Zogby-conducted poll commissioned by AfterDowningStreet.org finds that 53 percent of respondents want Congress to impeach Bush if he lied about the war in Iraq.

As 'Bush tries to improve U.S. image at summit,' a crowd of 10,000 protesters chanted "Get out Bush!"

Mark Engler invites readers to "consider the possibility that the administration's 'war on terrorism' has been a major business blunder" -- despite the fact that 'Plastic surgery profits' are "booming in post-invasion Iraq."

AlterNet's Joshua Holland writes that a final report from the Volcker Committee confirms that "Oil-for-food is a scandal that hits close to this administration," and that "the United States' 'strategic class' was deeply involved."

"President Bush last week appointed nine campaign contributors, including three longtime fund-raisers, to his Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board," reports Newsweek, "a move the White House defends since panelists are not required to have significant intelligence experience."

Corporation for Public Broadcasting Board Chairman Kenneth Tomlinson has 'quit.' His 'removal,' announced by the CPB board, came within days after it was presented with an unreleased report by the CPB's Inspector General on his investigation into "deficiencies in policies and procedures" at the CPB.

Tomlinson remains head of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which, reports the Financial Times, has asked the State Department's Inspector General to investigate Al-Hurra, the U.S.- backed Arabic language satellite TV network. Earlier: President's ad man nominated to serve on BBG.

Iraqi officials are reportedly anxious over a 'Green zone security switch' from a British firm to Virginia-based Triple Canopy, whose "employees have been recruited mainly in Latin America," where its practices have helped to trigger a "scandal in Peru." More on the company, which was featured in a New York Times article on 'The Other Army.'

The "five miles of bomb-blasted road" from Baghdad to the airport, formerly known as the "most dangerous highway in Iraq," are said to be calmer now that "the enemy's just gone up the road."

'Bang! Bang! You're Deaf!' Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups are suing to force the Israeli Air Force to stop causing sonic booms over Gaza, citing psychological damage and calling the practice "collective punishment."

Although oil companies are enjoying record profits, a Wall Street Journal headline says 'Oil Patch Faces Rough Patch' when execs appear next week before a joint session of the Senate energy and commerce committees, "but don't shed any tears for the industry just yet."

After the Senate 'OK's oil drilling' in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge by a 51-48 vote, with three Democrats joining Republicans to provide the margin of victory, Jeffrey St. Clair sees 'Blood on the Tundra, Betrayal in the Rotunda.'

Sen. Frank Lautenberg has filed an amendment to change the official name of the "Deficit Reduction Omnibus Reconciliation Act 2005" to the "Moral Disaster of Monumental Proportion Reconciliation Act."

Cuts in Medicaid approved by the House Budget Committee, part of what the Washington Post describes as "an effort ... to demonstrate fiscal discipline," would reportedly "affect" an estimated 6 million children.

In a strategy memo on a gambling initiative, Jack Abramoff's former business partner wrote: "The wackos get their information through the Christian right, Christian radio, mail, the internet and telephone trees ... we want to bring out the wackos to vote against something and make sure the rest of the public lets the whole thing slip past them."

It was read at a Senate Indian Affairs Committee hearing, held before the AP reported that Rep. Tom DeLay's staff tried to help Abramoff win access to Interior Secretary Gale Norton, "an effort that succeeded after Abramoff's Indian tribe clients began funneling a quarter-million dollars to an environmental group founded by Norton."

The New York Times reports that e-mails from 2002, "which refer to 'Tom' and 'Tom's requests,' appear to be the clearest evidence to date of an effort by Mr. DeLay ...to pressure Mr. Abramoff and his lobbying partners to raise money for him." Plus: Fox News paid Delay $14,000 to cover travel expenses.

Kevin Drum finds Judge Samuel Alito apparently "going out of his way" to signal his "coded acceptance of Roe" and wonders "how long it's going to be before social conservatives ... turn on him."

A Washington Post columnist describes a "Katrina-like moment" after Howard University students were told that "if they wanted to eat they'd have to come back when the president and first lady were gone, then go to a service door at the rear of the dining hall and ask for a chicken plate to go."

As eight nights of 'Riots Put a Fear in the French,' and an immigrant writer and rap artist is quoted as saying that it "has the potential to become really dramatic," French officials say they see "no indication that fundamentalist leaders have encouraged" the growing violence.

One of five Muslims who were detained and questioned after they were seen praying in public at a New York Giants football game, "pointed out that football players often huddle and pray on the sideline."

November 3

Monday, November 7, 2005

"Four U.S. officials said the Italian military intelligence agency known as SISMI passed three reports to the CIA station in Rome between October 2001 and March 2002 outlining an alleged deal for Iraq to buy yellowcake from Niger," reports Knight Ridder, contradicting claims by Italian officials.

Josh Marshall looks at the FBI's "curiously unthorough investigation" into what is being described as 'An Italian job.'

The FBI's "handling of the Chalabi investigation so far stands in contrast to the aggressive inquiry" conducted by special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald, reports the Wall Street Journal, while Chalabi's arrival in Washington is said to pose a dilemma for the White House.

"The occupation has ceased to be American," writes Baghdad Burning's Riverbend. "It is American in face, and militarily, but in essence it has metamorphosed slowly but surely into an Iranian one." Plus: "What better way to distance yourself from the Tehran government ...?"

Smoking Gun? That's what Editor & Publisher asked about the February 2002 intelligence document showing that a top Al Qaeda operative, whose information Bush administration officials later repeatedly cited as "credible" evidence that Iraq was in cahoots with Al Qaeda, was probably "intentionally misleading the debriefers."

"If Democrats want to argue that the administration misrepresented and distorted the prewar intelligence, OK, that's one thing," says Charlie Cook. "But if they push the argument that they have been duped, fooled and victimized - well, to a lot of voters, they're just going to come across as weak."

A letter from the I.R.S. followed a 2004 pre-election antiwar sermon, described as a "searing indictment of the Bush administration's policies in Iraq." Then came an offer of a "settlement" allowing the church to keep its tax-exempt status, "if there was a confession of wrongdoing."

As U.S. and Iraqi troops fight insurgents "house-to-house," in what is claimed to be "one of the largest offensives ... since the storming of Falluja last year," Iraq's tourist board is planning to build a luxury hotel in the Green Zone and turn Saddam's former palaces into a "themed tourist destination." Plus: 'Stuck in Baghdad'

"Five to one, they had me surrounded," said Knight Ridder's Joseph Galloway, discussing his lunch with Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, who "seemed to be enjoying it when I got into it with one of the other guys. He would lean back in his chair with a grin and watch us go at it."

Revisiting 'The Mysterious Death of Pat Tillman,' Frank Rich finds "a repeat of the same pattern that drove the Valerie Wilson leak ... Faced with unwelcome news ... this administration will always push back with change-the-subject stunts (like specious terror alerts), fake news or ... smear campaigns."

The New York Times reports that Kenneth Tomlinson is "the subject of an inquiry" by the State Department's Inspector General, "into accusations of misuse of federal money and the use of phantom or unqualified employees," in his role as head of the Broadcasting Board of Governors.

'The Karl & Ken Show' The article notes that "investigators have seized ... e-mail traffic between Mr. Tomlinson and White House officials including Karl Rove," who "played an important role in Mr. Tomlinson's appointment as chairman of the broadcasting board." It also refers to a report that Al Hurra is under investigation.

According to a translation of an article from Argentina's El Clarin, President Bush's Summit of the Americas detail included 2000 security and other staff, three airplanes "loaded with arms," four AWAC spy planes, Sikorsky helicopters and U.S. Navy ships. His remarks on Sunday that were 'seen as a jab at Chavez,' followed a 'Massive rebuke of Bush.'

Describing a "failed summit" that "strengthened the influence of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez," the Wall Street Journal quotes Chavez as saying of Bush that "The man left beat-up... Didn't you see it?"

The nonprofit National Association of Evangelicals is "circulating among its leaders the draft of a policy statement that would encourage lawmakers to pass legislation creating mandatory controls for carbon emissions," a position one GOP senator calls "something very strange."

"Tortuous Route" A "livid" secretary of Health and Human Services reportedly "wanted to know why the [flu] pandemic plan wasn't finished" -- at a meeting originally scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on Sept. 11, 2001. Kentucky Fried Chicken is also reported to be preparing a plan.

Corporate efforts to keep pace with domestic surveillance activity by the government, include the creation of "a shelf display that can automatically change the price of various products depending on who's looking at them."

The Seattle Times reveals 'How to outsmart automated phone systems,' complete with a list of 'Dial-a-human shortcuts,' amplifying the 'find-a-human' cheat sheet originally created by Paul English.

Observing "the 15th anniversary of the creation of the first Web page," an Internet regulation pioneer explains why "we probably would not create it, or any technology like it, today. In fact, we would be more likely to cripple it, or declare it illegal."

Regret the Error informs that the New York Times was "just one" of the publications and sites to pick up and publish, unedited, a Reuters item describing a recall of "frozen ground beef panties."

November 4-6

Tuesday, November 8, 2005

As 'Nine lives' Chalabi "comes in from the cold," he has evidently "not lost his luster with Vice-President Dick Cheney," and "should never be counted out."

A "short rap sheet on the man" begins with former Secretary of State Powell's quote that "I can't substantiate [Chalabi's] claims. He makes new ones every year."

'President Cheney' "When the historians really get digging into the paper entrails of the Bush administration," predicts Daniel Benjamin, "those who have intoned that phrase will still be astonished at the extent to which the Office of Vice President Dick Cheney was the center of power inside the White House."

James Carroll sets about 'Deconstructing Cheney,' and the New York Times editorializes on his "remarkable set of priorities: his former chief aide was indicted, Mr. Cheney's back is against the wall, and he's declared war on the Geneva Conventions." Plus: Times taken to task for editorial's 'Good Cop, Good Cop' stance.

With the Bush administration's 'torture policy increasingly under fire,' The New Yorker's Jane Mayer asks, 'Can the CIA legally kill a prisoner?", and a Federalist Society event sets a columnist to wondering, "Should we shun or debate torture memo lawyers?"

Democrats reportedly "want the right to interview top policymakers or speechwriters" for the Senate's "Phase Two" investigation, arguing that "comparing public statements with what the intelligence community published does not alone tell the story."

'Declare War' Despite what "even the most credulous of Washington insiders had to know before our 2003 invasion," Leslie Gelb and Anne-Marie Slaughter argue that "a transportation bill gets more deliberation than a decision to send American troops to war." Plus: 'Who Had the Real Intel on the War.'

As the French government prepares to take "even more effective" measures after 12 nights of rioting, despite reports that police are "bereft of authority," Lenin's Tomb goes behind "the Muslim scare" to survey how press and politicians spread 'Fear and Loathing in France.'

A counter-terrorism analyst sees an "insurgency" mounting an "open source war" in France, but the Washington Post quotes a street vendor in Paris as saying that "these kids are doing what most French people have wanted to do for the past 10 years."

A former French defense official said on PBS' "NewsHour" that "it is mainly an issue of employment. Today a French Muslim has one-eighth to one-tenth the chance of a non-Muslim French national with a non-Muslim name to get a job."

"Fallujah: the Hidden Massacre," a documentary to be broadcast on Italian TV reportedly "provides graphic proof that phosphorus shells were widely deployed in the city as a weapon," despite a U.S. claim that they were used only "for illumination purposes." Nur al-Cubicle has more, including a link to video from the documentary.

Dahr Jamail, who last January wrote about 'Odd Happenings In Fallujah,' notes that November 8 marks the one-year anniversary of the beginning of the assault on the city, and offers up an Iraqi journalist's first-person account from the area where operation "Steel Curtain" is currently taking place.

Four U.S. soldiers were killed at a checkpoint in a suicide car bombing said to have "underscored the increasing skills of insurgents," as two more Saddam trial lawyers were shot, one fatally.

A St. Louis Post-Dispatch report questioning the veracity of statements by former Marine Staff Sgt. Jimmy Massey, draws a charge of 'Ambush Journalism.'

After "an apparent slip" revealed that the annual U.S. intelligence budget is $44 billion, the man behind Secrecy News was said to express "amused satisfaction." Plus: Report claims Bush Administration has "compiled dossiers on more than 10,000 Americans it considers political enemies."

The Hill reports that FBI and Capitol Police are investigating the baseball-bat beating of a top staffer for Sen. Charles Grassley, "known for his aggressive oversight of the public and private sector," including the "use of nonprofit groups related to former lobbyist Jack Abramoff."

Left I on the News covers the coverage of the arrest of a "self-described writer" identified on CNN as "Norm Solomon."

"What's the sound of a good story smothered?" writes Dave Zirin. "Ask Sheryl Swoopes," whose story "hasn't been ignored so much as reframed."

The asking price for an out-of-print 'Sex Shocker' tops out at $2,400 for a copy inscribed, "To Bob. I hope you enjoy it."

November 7

Wednesday, November 9, 2005

I'll Be Blanked At a Trader Vic's in the same hotel where Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger addressed supporters after all of his ballot proposals failed, "giddy nurses" reportedly "formed a conga line and danced around the room, singing, 'We're the mighty, mighty nurses.'"

Before the referendum, Craig Crawford wrote from California that President Bush "is so unpopular here that it wasn't enough for Schwarzenegger to simply avoid being seen with him."

Democratic gubernatorial candidates took New Jersey and Virginia, as Bush was said to be "a liability, even for a Republican in a tomato red state."

A Democratic mayor who endorsed Bush gets doubled up in a landslide loss, and proponents of the idea that "science should be taught in science class" win one and lose one.

Visiting Iraqi deputy prime minister Ahmad Chalabi gets two endorsements, one from Tehran and another from the Wall Street Journal, in an editorial calling official Washington's embrace of Chalabi "a sign of maturity."

Seen "fuming with outrage" early in the day over Chalabi's visit, Sen. Dick Durbin later appeared stunned during a "NewsHour" debate on 'torture rules,' when a Republican colleague charged that "Durbin is the one who most recently compared our troops to the Nazis, the Soviets and their gulags, or the mad regimes of Pol Pot..." Plus: 'McCain, Israel and Torture.'

As the 'Senate rejects 9/11 style commission to review prison abuse,' a 2004 classified report by the CIA's inspector general is said to have warned that post-9/11 interrogation procedures appeared to constitute cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment under the U.N. Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

The Washington Post's report on Republican leaders' call for a bicameral investigation into the disclosure of classified information to the Post about a web of secret prisons, ignores Sen. Trent Lott's claim that a GOP Senator was behind the leak.

The Pentagon's classified "black budget," which USA Today reports has increased by almost 50 percent since 9/11, is called "a beautiful way to hide something" -- such as "a $23 million classified program" that "the Pentagon didn't ask for."

As Democrats challenge President Bush to rule out a pardon for Lewis Libby, a New York Times report that Libby has established a defense fund, describes a fund solicitor as "a Republican communications strategist," but doesn't mention that she was the chief spokeswoman for the Department of Justice in 2002 and 2003.

'Latin America's 9/11' Tony Karon notes that "many of the same leaders with whom Bush met at the summit ... were fighting dictators backed by the United States" at the time the president referred to when he told them that "only a generation ago, this was a continent plagued by military dictatorship and civil war."

As UPI's Martin Walker identifies "The person who seems to be running France at this moment," Will Bunch and Juan Cole discuss 'How the Right is twisting the French riots.'

The Guardian's George Monbiot accuses the media of minimizing war crimes in Iraq, and outgoing "Nightline" anchor Ted Koppel is quoted as saying that "the programming that is put on between those commercials is simply the bait we put in the mousetrap."

As a question of 'accuracy' is raised about the White House's version of a press conference transcript, the airwaves are awash with the claim that Congress and the White House saw the "same intelligence" on Iraq.

Race To the Finish The Scotsman reports on the U.S. military's "consequence management" system in the Iraqi city of Rawah, where "payments are made according to a sliding scale. A damaged high-value car or dead family member brings $2,500."

The Iraqi High Tribunal is said to be "trapped in a crisis," with eight people now having been "slain in connection with the court" and officials refusing to move the trial of Saddam Hussein and his co-defendants to a location outside Iraq.

"Baghdad Express" author Joel Turnipseed charges that his book was used for part of the movie "Jarhead," telling the New York Times that "this is not something that is based on a scene I did; it is verbatim dialogue."

With 'All ears on oil,' Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens rejected a suggestion that "energy executives should have to swear to tell the truth before the panel."

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed a discrimination suit against Fox News Channel, charging that the head of its promotions department regularly used obscenities and vulgarities and that the network retaliated against a female employee who objected. Scroll down to read the complaint.

Alabama's governor was joined by the mother of missing teen Natalee Holloway, as he called for a nationwide travel boycott of Aruba.

November 8

Thursday, November 10, 2005

According to Ha'aretz, there is no truth to its earlier report that Jordanian security forces evacuated Israelis before the synchronized hotel bombings in Amman, Jordan, where "the economic resurgence fueled by Iraqi refugees is coming at a steep price."

The U.S. military has admitted to killing Iraqi civilians, saying Marines were "unaware that civilians were in the house" which was said to have been taken over by rebels before a "Marine aircraft bombed it on Monday, reducing it to rubble." Earlier: 'U.S. Army admits use of white phosphorus as weapon.'

As 'At least 40 die in Iraq bombings,' Knight Ridder reports that the terrorist group headed by Abu Musab al Zarqawi "has broken with local Sunni Muslim Arab insurgent groups in central Iraq, in some cases resulting in gun battles on the street."

"As for the fact that I deliberately misled the U.S. government, this is an urban myth," said Ahmad Chalabi in response to a question from David Corn during Chalabi's "circus-like appearance" at the American Enterprise Institute. Plus: Iraq's VP "not averse" to a permanent base for U.S. troops.

Chalabi, whose next stop is New York, also met with Secretary of State Rice and national security adviser Stephen Hadley, "although neither would be photographed with him," reports Knight Ridder's Warren Strobel and Jonathan Landay.

Strobel and Landay remind that an INC-produced defector's account of having "visited 20 nuclear, chemical and biological warfare sites," first appeared in the New York Times, in December 2001, and was later cited in a White House background paper.

The article's author has since "retired" from the Times, which refused her "demand" for a going away op-ed, but agreed to publish her letter to the editor.

"There are still several shoes left to drop," says one observer, while The New Republic's Franklin Foer predicts that "she will surely continue to embarrass the paper," even after receiving what he suspects was a "massive" severance package. Plus: 'The reporter's last take.'

As Editor and Publisher's Greg Mitchell asks, 'Should George W. Bush Take a Cue from Judy Miller?", Media Matters documents the "evolving claims" of Fox News analyst Paul Vallely, who has asserted that Joseph Wilson disclosed his wife's CIA employment to Vallely in 2002.

With the White House reportedly planning to increase its "hit back" in response to allegations that the administration twisted intelligence, 57% of respondents to a new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll say that President Bush deliberately misled people to make the case for war.

The poll also found "that Republicans have lost the upper hand on a series of issues they've counted on to preserve their congressional majorities in 2006," including, "handling taxes, cutting government spending, dealing with immigration and directing foreign policy."

Despite White House pressure, House GOP leaders delivered "a blow to president Bush" by taking plans to permit drilling in ANWR back out of a budget package.

'Oil and Grilling Don't Mix,' observes Dana Milbank, so "instead of calling oil executives on the carpet yesterday, senators gave them the red-carpet treatment."

Lobbyist Jack Abramoff reportedly wanted $9 million from Gabon's president to set up a meeting with President Bush, that the White House characterized as "part of the president's outreach to the continent of Africa." President Omar Bongo is described as "one of the wealthiest heads of state in the world," due "mainly to oil revenue and corruption."

CounterPunch contributors observe the anniversary of a "judicial murder" in Nigeria, which proved that "oil politics is a violent, corrupt and authoritarian business."

While David Brooks opines that "what we are seeing in France will be familiar to anyone who watched gangsta culture rise in this country," an Australian commentator says that "If only Jacques Chirac could speak with such strength, idealism and sense of leadership" as the French rapper, Disiz La Peste. Scroll down to have a listen.

After the Wall Street Journal editorialized against 'Pro-Wife Extremism,' a Pandagon poster clarified the object of the verb to abort.

Liquid History "Blogs have made my life difficult," says Maureen Dowd, "because with everyone trying to have an opinion, it's hard to think of anything original to say when you have to wait three days for your column to be published."

November 9

Friday, November 11, 2005

President Bush embarks on the promised "hit back," in a Veterans Day speech in which he said: "It is deeply irresponsible to rewrite the history of how the war began. More than 100 Democrats in the House and the Senate who had access to the same intelligence voted to support removing Saddam Hussein from power."

National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley 'Fires back at critics' during a press briefing in which he challenged "the notion that somehow the administration manipulated prewar intelligence about Iraq." Plus: 'About That NIE'

Analyzing the "two-pronged argument" from Bush and Hadley, "that Congress saw the same intelligence the administration did ... and that independent commissions have determined that the administration did not misrepresent the intelligence," Dana Milbank and Walter Pincus conclude that "Neither assertion is wholly accurate."

John Prados offers up a road map for the Senate Intelligence Committee's "Phase Two" investigation, arguing that its "mandate must be to probe into the heart of the cabal."

As Bush racks up another 57 percent, the Nelson Report hears what "sounds like a pretty solid case for an impeachment proceeding, were there anything resembling either a sense or shame, or national ethics, in the Leadership of the House of Representatives and Senate. Something to be argued out in the 2006 ... campaigns?"

The Nation declares that, because "everything that needs to be known is now known ... we will not support any candidate for national office who does not make a speedy end to the war in Iraq" a major campaign issue.

In an amendment passed by the U.S. Senate that is described as "an end-run around" a 2004 Supreme Court decision, Guantanamo detainees are denied the right to challenge their detentions with habeas corpus petitions in federal court.

'A Felon For Peace' Foreign Service officer Ann Wright, who resigned before the invasion of Iraq, says that she was "not a heckler, I was a protester," when she shouted at a Senate committee hearing: "Stop the killing! Stop the war! Hold this woman accountable!"

'A slap in the face on Veterans Day' as "Ahmad the Thief" -- aka "Dr. Chalabi" -- makes a 'Curtain Call' that included playing "To a packed house -- so packed, in fact, that AEI pointedly disinvited your humble correspondent..."

Needlenose reviews a report suggesting that "Yep, he's still Karl, all right -- cranking up the anonymously-sourced Wurlitzer..." Rove also "railed against judicial activism" at a Federalist Society event, where Massachusetts' governor was introduced as the head of a state run by the "KKK ... the Kerry, Kennedy Klan."

As 'Republicans stumbled badly on two budget fronts,' a GOP pollster was quoted as saying that "After Tuesday's election, it's 'Why are we following these guys? They're taking us off the cliff.'"

"New details" in the case of Rep. Tom DeLay are said to "reveal the unusual lengths to which DeLay and his lawyers were willing to go to avoid charges that would force him to leave his powerful post -- and how it was DeLay's own words that ultimately got him in trouble with the prosecutor."

Trade Wars As the U.S. trade deficit hits a new high, a terror analyst who says Iraq has been a "net importer of jihadists ... worries the attacks in Jordan indicate Iraq will eventually become a net exporter of terrorists."

'The Myth of Zarqawi' The author of "Insurgent Iraq" examines how a "small town bully" fulfilled a "prophecy" -- from which "Americans also had much to gain" -- and turned the creation of his myth into "chilling reality."

The Los Angeles Times details the close relationship between the CIA and Jordan's General Intelligence Directorate, "so close, in fact, that ... one former CIA official said he was allowed to roam the halls of the GID unescorted."

The article cites a State Department human rights report, which states that "students must obtain a good behavior certificate from the GID to qualify for admission under the university quota system."

Amira Hass delivers what "sounds like the selfsame news report being recycled over and over: a road tarred for a checkpoint, truncation, isolation, enclave, stranglehold. But that is what the IDF does day in and day out..."

Fox News accused of 'liberal bias' by a conservative think tank over a global warming show that includes Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as a "special correspondent," with a senior fellow saying that "it is important to expose this disgraceful excuse for journalism, particularly by the so-called 'fair and balanced' crowd."

As Bill O'Reilly 'opens new front in "war" on Christmas,' San Franciscans respond to his warning that "if Al Qaeda comes in here and blows you up, we're not going to do anything about it." Earlier: "We got another nut on the air."

And Pat Robertson is warning the citizens of Dover, Pennsylvania: "if there is a disaster in your area, don't turn to God, you just rejected Him from your city."

After a "chastened" Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger pledged cooperation and collaboration, a leader of California nurses said that "if he had won, there would be no talk of compromise," and the editor of a nonpartisan election guide said that "his problem right now is people think he is full of hot air."

The Los Angeles Times drops columnist Robert Scheer and replaces him with a commentator who believes that Sen. Joseph McCarthy "behaved like a jerk, but he was also right."

Paul Krugman warns of "the doughnut hole" in Medicare's new prescription drug benefit, through which "if your cumulative drug expenses reach $2,250 ... you'll suddenly be on your own ... unless your costs reach $5,100." Plus: Krugman takes five.

Alan Greenspan gets soul and President Bush scarfs it up, as a White House ceremony leaves an observer wondering if a conscientious objector was making a political statement or just psyching out the challenger. Earlier: The 'darker side' of the champ who scored a unanimous decision against the United States.

November 10

Monday, November 14, 2005

A Jordan hotel bombing suspect was reportedly detained and released by U.S. forces last year in Fallujah -- "in the same mosque where a Marine shot to death an unarmed Iraqi man."

She is said to have "twirled, almost like a model showing off the latest fashion," during her confession on state-run Jordanian television.

A New York Times article on the 'Heavy Hand of the Secret Police' in the Arab world reports that in Jordan, "intelligence agencies vet the appointment of every university professor," while monitoring such "security threats" as poetry recitals.

As the Wall Street Journal 'defends torture,' AFP reports that in an interview on CNN, National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley 'declines to totally rule out torture.' The article notes that according to a Newsweek survey, "Americans at large don't seem to have a clear-cut position on the use of torture."

In a column headlined "'We do not torture' and other funny stories," Frank Rich refers to Jane Mayer's New Yorker article on the 'Deadly Interrogation' of an Abu Ghraib detainee. Time reports that inquiries into his death suggest a coverup. Plus: 'Spain looks into CIA's handling of detainees.'

A Times op-ed describes how "Pentagon officials turned to the closest thing on their organizational charts to a school for torture" and "signed off on a strategy that mimics Red Army methods" designed to "force compliance to the point of false confession."

An Australian report on 'The Italian Job' asks: "Can you imagine the outcry here if just before the ASIO and police raids earlier this week, the CIA arrived in town, snatched one of the alleged terrorists ... and whisked him off out of the country to be tortured - without telling a soul!"

As President Bush gets one 36 percent approval rating after another, Josh Marshall reviews the Bush administration's "mendacity with regards to the war," and suggests that "What this country will end up needing is something like a Truth and Reconciliation Commission."

That suggestion was prompted by RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman's appearance on "Meet the Press," where he, along with Bush administration supporters on other Sunday talk shows, "rolled out a new talking point." Plus: 'Define "imminent."'

Crooks and Liars captures video segments that aired last week on "Hardball," one of which reviews the overall war sell, another the linking of Iraq and 9/11, and a third in which Vice President Cheney is tripped up.

"Even some White House aides privately wonder whether Libby was seeking to protect Cheney from political embarrassment," reports the Washington Post. And with Libby's testimony seen as 'key to Rove inquiry,' a Niger forgeries finding goes from Left Coaster to La Repubblica.

The founder of Republicans for Humility regrets his support for the invasion of Iraq, and 95 bishops from President Bush's church repent their "complicity."

After Sen. John Edwards explained that he "never would have voted for this war" had he known "the whole story," a Washington Monthly poster asked, "Why didn't Sen. Edwards know? Why didn't he ask Bob Graham?"

Bob Burnett calls on Democrats to "cease their doubletalk about fighting a smarter war in Iraq ... and begin telling the truth: the occupation is a quagmire, a moral black hole. We should withdraw our troops."

No change of venue for Saddam Hussein, although his defense team is said to be 1,100 lawyers lighter.

Immediate withdrawal from Iraq strikes Nicholas Kristof as "utterly immoral," and it would "confirm every prejudice about America's not being able to stomach casualties."

In what is described as a 'shocker,' the largest newspaper in a "death belt" state has come out against the death penalty in a series of editorials.

George McGovern says in an interview that he has "trouble remembering from one day to the next what 'blue' and 'red' mean. They used to call us Democrats 'reds' because they thought we were too liberal, too pink. I'm glad the Republicans have assumed that label now."

A Black Commentator columnist observes 'Imus And Andy' holding forth "on how black people choose to refer to themselves."

As the U.S. denies a visa to a prize-winning Cuban scientist, the Dalai Lama gives a nod to science at a neuroscience conference and in a New York Times op-ed, writing that "science and Buddhism share a search for the truth and for understanding reality."

Following what "may have been the worst speech of his presidency," 'Bush escalates bitter Iraq War debate' in a speech at Alaska's Elmendorf Air Force Base.

November 11-13

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

The Senate "defeated a Democratic effort to pressure President Bush to outline a timetable for a phased withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq," reports the AP. "It then overwhelmingly endorsed a weaker statement of U.S. policy in Iraq."

A new USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll finds that nine percent of respondents "say they prefer a congressional candidate who is a Republican and who agrees with Bush on most major issues."

Following what "may have been the worst speech of his presidency," 'Bush escalates bitter Iraq War debate' in a speech at Alaska's Elmendorf Air Force Base.

"So to use his words, bring it on," says Josh Marshall. "The facts indict him. And his White House's ferocious desperation in response shows they know it." Plus: "Mr. President, it won't work this time."

'Decoding Mr. Bush's Denials,' the New York Times editorializes that "It's obvious that the Bush administration misled Americans about Mr. Hussein's weapons and his terrorist connections. We need to know how that happened and why."

Slate's Fred Kaplan parses 'Bush's new mantra,' while the American Prospect's Michael Tomasky urges the president to meet "Mr. Republican."

In 'rediscovered testimony,' George Tenet "told Congress in February 2001 that Iraq was 'probably' pursuing chemical and biological weapons programs but that the CIA had no direct evidence that Iraq had actually obtained such weapo