January 29, 2006
Can Bush Instill Confidence With His State of the Union Address?
"A weakened George W. Bush faces the nation in his 5th State of the Union address beset by war fatigue, persistent discontent on the economy and other domestic issues, ethics concerns and rising interest in Democratic alternatives in this midterm election year," contends ABC News. See "Poll: Weak Ratings Confront Bush Ahead of State of Union."
According to The New York Times, Mr. Bush's speech has gone through 20 drafts. The paper quoted "William McGurn, the director of White House speechwriting," as saying: "It's never done until it's done." Why not just wing it?
Note: This item is also posted at The Opinion Gazette.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 10:03 PM | Comments (0)
January 04, 2006
Did Jack Abramoff Help Fund Jewish Settlements on Palestinian Land?
Professor Juan Cole at Informed Comment states in a January 4, 2005 post on the guilty plea of former Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff: The guilty plea of fabulously wealthy and highly corrupt lobbyist Jack Abramoff raised the question of whether he would roll over on congressmen involved in illegal fundraising and other crimes with him. Some twenty Republicans on Capitol Hill are said to be in danger. Abramoff's dense network of illicit finances and phony charities might end some political careers in the United States.
But the investigation into his activities by the FBI also shed light on the ways in which rightwing American Jews have often been involved in funding what are essentially terrorist activities by armed land thieves in Palestinian territory. Indeed, it was this terror funding of Israeli far right militiamen that tripped Abramoff up, since the FBI discovered that he had misled Indian tribes into giving money to the Jabotinskyites, and then began wondering if he had defrauded the tribes in other ways. (You betcha!) Mr. Cole said, "The Indian leaders were furious when they discovered they had been used to oppress another dispossessed indigenous people, the Palestinians, calling it "Outer Limits bizarre" and saying that they would never have willingly given money to such a cause."
For the entire post, please see "Abramoff and al-Arian: Lobbyist's "Charity" a Front for Terrorism."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 07:22 AM | Comments (0)
December 23, 2005
Setting the Stage For a Clash Over Civil Liberties in the U.S.
Has the United States Congress set the stage for a clash over civil liberties by refusing to renew the USA Patriot Act beyond five weeks? The New York Times thinks so. See "Congress sets stage for civil liberties clash."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 06:57 PM | Comments (0)
Republicans Battle Over the USA Patriot Act
A "clash between House and Senate Republicans" in the United States Congress has resulted in "only a five-week extension" of the USA Patriot Act notes the Los Angeles Times and other publications. For more, please see "Patriot Act Extension Is Cut From 6 Months to 5 Weeks."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 06:47 PM | Comments (0)
December 17, 2005
Mr. Bush Wants His Patriot Act Renewed
PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH is pissed that a few senators, both Democrats and Republicans, have finally gotten some balls and are not rubber stamping the "House of Representatives' reauthorization of the Patriot Act." Our president said in his December 17, 2005 radio address that "a minority of senators filibustered to block the renewal of the Patriot Act when it came up for a vote yesterday {December 16, 2005.
"That decision is irresponsible, and it endangers the lives of our citizens," he declared. "The senators who are filibustering must stop their delaying tactics, and the Senate must vote to reauthorize the Patriot Act. In the war on terror, we cannot afford to be without this law for a single moment."
Yes, we can. I think it is dangerous act because it gives the president and the FBI too much power to interfere in the lives of U.S. citizens . Here's a White House transcript of Mr. Bushes radio address.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 11:26 PM | Comments (0)
December 16, 2005
Majority in the U.S. House Commit to 'Achieving Victory' in Iraq
The U.S. House of Representatives approved a resolution today committing the body to President George W. Bush's goal of "achieving victory" in Iraq, according to The Associated Press (AP) and other news outlets. The roll call vote was 279-109 "A "yes" vote is a vote to pass the measure," the AP said.
Surely this is no surprise. I think during the 2006 campaign season some of the representatives will wish they hadn't voted for it. Here's more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 03:52 PM | Comments (0)
House Version of Renewed USA Patriot Act Rejected in the U.S. Senate
Senate majority leader Bill Frist of Tennessee and other supporters of renewing certain provisions of the USA Patriot Act suffered what The New York Times called "a stinging defeat in the Senate today, falling well short of the 60 votes needed to bring the act to a final vote and leaving it in limbo for the moment."
Richard B. Schmitt of the Los Angeles Times noted in a December 16, 2005 article that:
A deeply divided chamber engaged in an often-emotional debate Thursday [December 15, 2005], weighing issues of security and liberty on a day that one member noted was the anniversary of the ratification in 1791 of what would become known as the Bill of Rights, including the 4th Amendment's right against unreasonable searches.He quoted Senator Ken Salazar (Democrat of Colorado), who was "part of a bipartisan group of nine senators building support for the filibuster" threatened by Senator Dianne Feinstein (Democrat of California), as saying: "It is ironic ... that we are considering legislation that would greatly undermine that principle." At least some Senators have regained their sense of Independence following their capitulation to the Bush Administration on Patriot Act in the days after Al Qaeda's September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.
Note: This article is also posted at The Opinion Gazette, one of my other blogs.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 03:13 PM | Comments (0)
Rice Tries to Protect Bush From Allegations of Spying on Americans
LISA MYERS, NBC's investigative correspondent disclosed on December 14, 2005 that the Pentagon kept a database on anti-war activists around nation. It's getting worse. The New York Times reported December 15, 2005 on its website and December 16, 2005 in its print edition that:Months after the Sept. 11 attacks, President Bush secretly authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on Americans and others inside the United States to search for evidence of terrorist activity without the court-approved warrants ordinarily required for domestic spying, according to government officials.
The Times said, "Under a presidential order signed in 2002, the intelligence agency has monitored the international telephone calls and international e-mail messages of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people inside the United States without warrants over the past three years in an effort to track possible "dirty numbers" linked to Al Qaeda, the officials said. The agency, they said, still seeks warrants to monitor entirely domestic communications."
Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice was trotted out on December 16, 2005 to defend Mr. Bush, who can't seem to avoid bad news these days. She responded to a question about The Times article in an interview with Katie Couric on NBC's ``Today'' show, and in an interview with Charlie Gibson on ABC's Good Morning America.
She also appeared on the CBS Early Show With Harry Smith. I didn't see a question about The Times article in the State Department transcript of her interview with Mr. Smith.
The gist of Ms. Rice's statement on the matter, as she told Ms. Couric and Mr. Gibson, was that she was "not going to comment on intelligence matters and certainly not on a newspaper story about intelligence matters."
She specifically told Couric:
"Well, Katie, I'm not going to comment on intelligence matters and certainly not on a newspaper story about intelligence matters. I can tell you that the President has always lived within the law. He has always said that he will do everything that he can to protect the American people from the kind of attack that we experienced on September 11th, but within the law and with due regard for the civil liberties of Americans. Because he takes absolutely seriously his constitutional responsibility both to defend Americans and to do it within the law.I think events will prove Ms. Rice wrong. Just as the administration's lies about Iraq having weapons of mass destruction blew up in the president's face, expect more revelations about spying on Americans.
Note: This article is also posted at The Opinion Gazette.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 12:03 PM | Comments (0)
December 15, 2005
Why President Bush Supports Tom DeLay
Question: Why is U.S. President George W. Bush expressing opinions about the money laundering charges and indictment of former House majority leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.)?
Mr. Bush leaves no doubt that he wants Mr. DeLay exonerated. According to the December 15, 2005 issue of The Washington Post, Mr. Bush told Fox News' Brit Hume:
I hope that he will, 'cause I like him, and plus, when he's over there, we get our votes through the House.The Post said "it is highly unusual for a president to express an opinion on a pending legal case. Richard M. Nixon, for instance, was widely criticized for declaring Charles Manson "guilty, directly or indirectly" of murder while Manson's trial was ongoing, the paper said, noting that, Mr. Bush also "offered strong support for several top Republicans who have been battered by investigations or by rumors of fading clout inside the White House."
Here's the transcript of Mr. Bush's December 14, 2005 interview with Brit Hume.
Note: This article is also posted at The Opinion Gazette.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 08:39 AM | Comments (0)
