Two years ago, James B. Comey, the top deputy to then Attorney General John Aschcroft, refused to approve portions of BushCo's spy program that calls for domestic eavesdropping without obtaining a warrant first.

Comey was serving as Acting Attorney General while Aschcroft was in the hospital recuperating from gallbladder surgery.  Because of Comey's refusal to approve portions of the spy program, White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, and Alberto Gonzales (then White House Counsel) visited Aschcroft in the hospital to discuss the program.

It is not known whether Aschcroft ultimately approved the program, or if the White House went ahead with DOJ's approval.

Justice Deputy Resisted Parts of Spy Program

According to an Associated Press article, the Iraq war has caused an increase in the number of soldiers trying to get out of the army.

The Army has seen an increase in the number of soldiers who are seeking an honorable discharge as conscientious objectors.  Some soldiers are suing the military, saying their service has been wrongfully extended.  In 2004, 110 soldiers filed paperwork to be classified as a conscientious objector--approximately four times the number from 2000.

Marti Hiken, Co-Chair of the National Lawyers Guild Military Law Task Force, says "As this war continues, we're going to see more refusals, disobeying of orders, stop-loss lawsuits."

Camilo Mejia, a former Staff Sgt., says he did some soul searching while he was on a two-week leave last year, after serving a year in Iraq. "Going home gave me the opportunity to put my thoughts in order and to listen to what my conscience had to say. People would ask me about my war experiences and answering them took me back to all the horrors, the firefights, the ambushes, the time I saw a young Iraqi dragged by his shoulders through a pool of his own blood or an innocent man was decapitated by our machine gun fire."

Some Soldiers Trying to Get Out of Army

Looks like the Bush apologists within our own military have their latest talking points from 1600.

BushCo knows they have some explaining to do to the American people for the failure to capture Osama bin Laden, so they trotted out General Allen Peck, the Number 2 person in charge of coalition forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, to say that terrorism won't be eliminated even if Osama bin Laden and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi were to be captured.

Peck says "There's no single face to the enemy that we're fighting" and he questions whether bin Laden is the biggest threat to stability in the region.

Memo to General Peck and the rest of the Bush apologists: Of course terrorism will not be eliminated with bin Laden's capture.  Terrorism will never be eliminated as long as this earth exists in its present form. 

But we owe it to the nearly 3,000 people who lost their lives on 9/11 to actively pursue the man responsible for that horrific event.

Instead, you serve as an apologist for a half a&s "Commander-in-Chief" who went from saying he wanted Osama bin Laden dead or alive, to saying he didn't know or care where Osama is.

In case the memory needs refreshing on Idiot Son's bin Laden bait and switch:

"I want justice.  And there's an old poster out West… I recall, that said, 'Wanted, Dead or Alive.'"

-  George W. Bush, September 17, 2001

"The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. It is our number one priority and we will not rest until we find him."

- George W. Bush, September 13, 2001

"I don't know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority."

- George W. Bush, March 13, 2002

"I am truly not that concerned about him."

- George W. Bush, March 13, 2002

Top General says 'getting' bin Laden and Zarqawi won't eliminate terror threat

What a heartbreaking story to close out 2005. Three family members relocated to Texas as a result of Hurricane Katrina were found dead in their apartment.

They were apparently facing eviction from their apartment, and police say they may be the victims of a double muder-suicide.

The bodies were discovered after police were called to the apartment to assist with the eviction.

Evacuee family found dead in Texas

CNN.com is running an Associated Press story about the National Security Agency's use of illegal "cookies."

The NSA's official web site placed files on the computers of people who visited their website, that allowed the NSA to track the visitor's web activity (against federal rules banning such use of cookies).

The NSA says the issue has been corrected (yeah, okay!)

NSA inadvertently uses banned 'cookies'

University of California- Santa Cruz (UCSC) Chancellor Denice Denton has asked congressional representatives to investigate reports that the Pentagon has spied on campus protests.

Last spring, UCSC students protested against the military's habit of recruiting on campus.  Recently, MSNBC obtained documents which showed the Pentagon spied on the campus protest, identifying it as a "credible threat."  (To Rummy and crew I pose this question: A threat to whom or what?)

Chancellor Dentor wrote in an email: "We are greatly concerned about the Pentagon's investigation of a UCSC campus protest of military recruiting last spring."  She further stated that the Pentagon's spying on the campus protest was "A questionable use of military resources.  It is especially disquieting that political dissent would be considered threatening.''

UCSC Chief Alleges Spying

African-American lawmakers in Georgia are vowing to repeal the new Voter ID law, which is essentially a state-sanctioned poll tax.

Under the new law, Georiga voters who do not have a driver's license, will be required to purchase a state-issued identification card, which could cost approximately $35.

State Rep. Alisha Morgan said "It's whatever it takes.  I'm putting on the armor. Nothing they can do will fix the bill. It's a bad law and it needs to be repealed. We're not going backwards."

The U.S. Justice Department approved the law in August, but in November, a memo revealed that career lawyers and analysts in the Department had opposed the Georgia law.  They were overruled by the politicos in DOJ, however.

In October, a federal judge blocked Georgia from enforcing the law, saying it essentially amounted to an unconstitutional poll tax.

Georgia's black lawmakers vow to repeal voter ID law

The Global Language Monitor is a non-profit organization that monitors language use.  And they announced their most memorable Bushism of 2005.

The winner: Idiot Son's praise of then FEMA Director Michael Brown, when he said "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job" in the midst of the worst natural disaster to hit U.S. soil.

Paul JJ Payack, the President of Global Language Monitor, says although the "heck of a job" quote comes out on top, there are some other memorable Bushisms from 2005:

-- "See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda," Bush said in explaining his communications strategy last May.

-- "I think I may need a bathroom break. Is this possible?" Bush asked in a note to Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice during a U.N. Security Council meeting in September.

-- "This notion that the United States is getting ready to attack Iran is simply ridiculous. And having said that, all options are on the table," Bush said in Brussels last February.

-- "In terms of timetables, as quickly as possible - whatever that means," the president said of his timeframe for passing Social Security legislation in March.

-- "Those who enter the country illegally violate the law," Bush said in describing illegal immigrants in Tucson, Arizona, last month.

President Bush's "Brownie" quote wins award

Required reading courtesy of the Washington Post:

A Shared Uncertainty: Hurricane Unites Evacuees on Both Sides Of New Orleans's Divide of Race and Class

Let's give it up for the so-called "culture of life" neo-cons on the far right.  They are for a culture of life, so much so that they threw a firebomb at an abortion clinic in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Brian Crawford, Spokesman for the Shreveport Fire Department, said  "This is not a crime to be taken lightly.  It's an arson crime -- and because of the nature of this crime, someone could also be charged with domestic terrorism as well."

A note to our friends on the right: if you really want to promote a culture of life, and if you are so concerned with abortions, when is the last time you walked up to a woman going into an abortion clinic, and askd her to see the birth through, so you can adopt her unborn child.

Firebomb thrown at abortion clinic

A pro-war organization by the name of Move America Forward has taken to the airwaves with false claims that weapons of mass destruction, such as muster gas and anthrax, have been found in Iraq.  The group also claims that Iraq had "extensive" ties to Al Qaeda.

From the Wall Street Journal:

The television commercials are attention-grabbing: Newly found Iraqi documents show that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction, including anthrax and mustard gas, and had "extensive ties" to al Qaeda. The discoveries are being covered up by those "willing to undermine support for the war on terrorism to selfishly advance their shameless political ambitions."

The hard-hitting spots are part of a recent public-relations barrage aimed at reversing a decline in public support for President Bush's handling of Iraq. But these advertisements aren't paid for by the Republican National Committee or other established White House allies. Instead, they are sponsored by Move America Forward, a media-savvy outside advocacy group that has become one of the loudest -- and most controversial -- voices in the Iraq debate.

The Republican National Committe and the Bush Crime Team at 1600 Penn Avenue have had no comment about these ads, which is their usual M.O.  They never came out to denounce the lies in the ads run by the Swift Boat liars.

And they will not denounce the lies in the ads now being run by the Move America forward organization.

Pro-War Group Takes to the Airwaves

WJLA TV is running a heartbreaking AP story about 6 year old Eissa, an Iraqi who was killed by U.S. fire as he prepared to travel to Syria with his father.  Eissa's mother, Jameela, says says she does not know what U.S. forces were firing at when they killed her little boy.

(Note to Idiot Son, Rummy, Condi, and all the other neo-con "architechts" of the war: this is winning hearts and minds how?)

Violence Defies Reason for Many in Iraq

In his year-end interview with Jim Lehrer, George W. Bush admitted that he was never truly concerned with the human cost of war.

JIM LEHRER: But the risk factors that you took into consideration in making the decision did not involve specific numbers that, oh my goodness, this could cost us this many lives? Or how about Iraqi lives? You said this week that 30,000 Iraqis have died.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Yes.

JIM LEHRER: Was that on the table when you made the decision?

PRESIDENT BUSH: I think, well, first of all, I said 30,000, that's because it's kind of the general talk. And I don't know if we know specifically how many died. Nor do I think you don't sit around in a planning session and say, gosh, I wonder how many-- how many people are going to die because of suicide bombers or because of politics or-- I know this, that when we went in we had a plan to target the guilty and spare the innocent and with our precision weaponry and a military that is a humane group of people that we did a good job of that.

But war is brutal, war is death, war is-- and I knew that going in. I just don't remember people, you know, trying to guess.

Well, forget about George Bush not caring about Black people.  He doesn't care about people, period.  He cares about serving his own interests, regardless of the cost to anyone else.

As a Commander-in-Chief (even a half a&s one) you darn well need to be thinking about the human costs of commiting troops to war.

Please allow me to read this particular excerpt from the book "Thirteen Days: A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis" by Robert F. Kennedy.

In the book, Robert F. Kennedy writes, in part:

"By Thursday night, there was a majority opinion in our group for a blockade......We explained our recommendations to the President.....The next morning, at our meeting at the State Department, there were sharp disagreements again. The strain and the hours without sleep were beginning to take their toll.....Each one of us was being asked to make a recommendation which would affect the future of all mankind, a recommendation which, if wrong and if accepted, could mean the destruction of the human race..." (Pages 34-35)

The point being that President Kennedy, and the men and women who surrounded him, understood the human implications of whatever action they might decide to take against the Soviet Union.

They realized it wasn't just about John F. Kennedy and Khruschchev. It was about American children. It was about children in the Soviet Union. It was about people, in general, and our survival as a race.

And that is why President Kennedy did not rush to a decision. He understood the threat, but also realized the need to make the RIGHT decision.

Jim Lehrer Interview With George Bush

Breaking News of the morning: The United States says it will NOT turn over the U.S.-run prisons in Iraq to the Iraqis, until it is certain that the prisons meet the United States' standards of care for detainees.

From the New York Times:

The commander of American-run prisons in Iraq says the military will not turn over any detainees or detention centers to Iraqi jailers until American officials are satisfied that the Iraqis are meeting United States standards for the care and custody of detainees.

"Bottom line, we will not pass on facilities or detainees until they meet the standards we define and that we are using today," the commander, Maj. Gen. John D. Gardner of the Army, said in a telephone interview this week from Iraq.

Ok, so let me see if I've got this straight.  We are currently running some prisons in Iraq.  And we won't turn over control over those prisons to the Iraqis, until we are satisfied that they meet our standard of care.

Our past history (read: Abu Ghraib) include waterboarding (to make someone think they are drowning). I guess that's the standard we'll be passing along to the Iraqis.

Or perhaps we'll give them a manual on how to hold someone in a stress position for hours, and giving out orders to make sure that a particular detainee "has a rough night."

U.S., Citing Abuse in Iraqi Prisons, Holds Detainees

Here's an example of the United States government's standard of care for detainees in Iraq:

Several must-reads today:

1.  Hmmm..now we know why Idiot Son really nominated Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court.  During his stint in the Reagan Administration, Alito said that a U.S. Attorney General should be immune from any lawsuits stemming from illegal wiretapping. (Read: the man who wants to be the next Supreme Court Justice, thinks it's ok for the Attorney General to break the law).

Alito Urged Wiretap Immunity

2.  The Washington Post takes a look at the turf wars inside the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and it's parent (the Department of Homeland Security) on George Bush's watch.

Brown's Turf Wars Sapped FEMA's Strength

One of Idiot Son's main defenses for his spying on domestic citizens without obtaining a warrant, has been that the United States Congress essentially gave him the authority to do so, in the joint resolution it passed just days after 9/11, entitled "Authorization for the Use of Military Force."

In an Op/Ed in the Washington Post, former United States Sen. Tom Daschle debunked that claim.

From the WaPo:

"As drafted, and as finally passed, the resolution authorized the president "to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations or persons" who "planned, authorized, committed or aided" the Sept. 11 attacks.

"Literally minutes before the Senate cast its vote, the administration sought to add the words 'in the United States and' after 'appropriate force' in the agreed-upon text," Daschle wrote. "This last-minute change would have given the president broad authority to exercise expansive powers not just overseas -- where we all understood he wanted authority to act -- but right here in the United States, potentially against American citizens. I could see no justification for Congress to accede to this extraordinary request for additional authority. I refused."

Daschle wrote that Congress also rejected draft language from the White House that would have authorized the use of force to "deter and pre-empt any future acts of terrorism or aggression against the United States," not only against those responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks."

Meanwhile, in a letter sent to Congress on yesterday, the Justice Department admitted that Bush's spy order failes to comply with the "procedures of" the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

Daschle: Congress Denied Bush War Powers in U.S.

You know things are bad for Idiot Son (see George W. Bush, President of the United States) when he's been called a threat to the rule of law, by a former member of the Reagan administration!

Bruce Fein, who served as a Deputy Attorney General under Ronald Reagan, says that George W. Bush is a threat to America.  In the December 20 edition of Rev. Moon's neo-con Washington Times newspaper, Fein wrote: "President Bush presents a clear and present danger to the rule of law.  He cannot be trusted to conduct the war against global terrorism with a decent respect for civil liberties and checks against executive abuses. Congress should swiftly enact a code that would require Mr. Bush to obtain legislative consent for every counterterrorism measure that would materially impair individual freedoms."

Fein's concern over Idiot Son is on two levels: 1) That he broke the law and 2) he has shown no respect for the separation of powers (read: Idiot Son believes he is King).

A right-winger actually making sense, and taking Bush to task?  I have one question: What took so long?

Bush's impeachable offense

Kristen Breitweiser, whose husband was killed on 9/11, has written a wonderful article for Common Dreams.org, called The King's Red Herring--definitely required reading for today.

In a very articulate (and most importantly, FACTUAL way) she takes the Bush Crime Team to task for using 9/11 as an excuse for domestic wiretapping, when in fact the government had received plenty of intelligence on the hijackers.

I know the neo-con, Rethug Bush apologists are salivating at the mouth, just waiting for the opportunity to call Kristen Breitweiser a radical liberal who's aiding and abbeding the enemy. 

Not so fast, though!  You should know that she voted for George W. Bush in the 2000 Presidential election.  But after 9/11, Kristen turned her grief into action, advocating for the creation of the 9/11 Commission, and said that George W. Bush "thrawted our attempts at every turn."

‘He Can Make Us Safe’

"President Bush thwarted our attempts at every turn"

By his own admission, Idiot Son has broken the law.

On April 20, 2004, while in Buffalo, New York, he said that wiretaps require a court order.

"Secondly, there are such things as roving wiretaps. Now, by the way, any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires -- a wiretap requires a court order. Nothing has changed, by the way. When we're talking about chasing down terrorists, we're talking about getting a court order before we do so. It's important for our fellow citizens to understand, when you think Patriot Act, constitutional guarantees are in place when it comes to doing what is necessary to protect our homeland, because we value the Constitution.

But a roving wiretap means -- it was primarily used for drug lords. A guy, a pretty intelligence drug lord would have a phone, and in old days they could just get a tap on that phone. So guess what he'd do? He'd get him another phone, particularly with the advent of the cell phones. And so he'd start changing cell phones, which made it hard for our DEA types to listen, to run down these guys polluting our streets. And that changed, the law changed on -- roving wiretaps were available for chasing down drug lords. They weren't available for chasing down terrorists, see? And that didn't make any sense in the post-9/11 era. If we couldn't use a tool that we're using against mobsters on terrorists, something needed to happen."

 http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/04/20040420-2.html

In related news, a federal judge from the court that oversees government surveillance, has resigned in protest of Bush's domestic spying program.

Spy Court Judge Quits In Protest

Looks like the FBI conducted surveillance and intelligence-gathering on activist groups such as those involved in issues like the environment, poverty, and animal cruelty.

"Counterterrorism agents at the Federal Bureau of Investigation have conducted numerous surveillance and intelligence-gathering operations that involved, at least indirectly, groups active in causes as diverse as the environment, animal cruelty and poverty relief, newly disclosed agency records show."

-snip-

"The latest batch of documents, parts of which the A.C.L.U. plans to release publicly on Tuesday, totals more than 2,300 pages and centers on references in internal files to a handful of groups, including PETA, the environmental group Greenpeace and the Catholic Workers group, which promotes antipoverty efforts and social causes."

F.B.I. Watched Activist Groups, New Files Show

The U.S. Conference of Mayors released a report which showed that last year, the number of requests for emergency food and shelter grew.  The data reported was for the period of November 1, 2004 to October 31, 2005. 

The number of Americans requesting food assistance grew by 12% over the last year, while requests for shelter grew by 6%.

Mayors Release Hunger, Homelessness Survey

Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) knew of Bush's domestic spying, but was not allowed to even tell his staff that the President of the United States was breaking the law.

In July 2003, Sen. Rockefeller wrote a hand-written letter to Darth Vader (a.k.a. Dick Cheney) expressing concern over the spy program.

(Joshua Marshall's Talking Points Memo is on the case!! Great job!)

Talking Points Memo

Letter from Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) to Vice President Cheney regarding NSA domestic wiretapping, July 17th 2003.

Turns out Idiot Son knew the NY Times was going to expose his spying on Americans.

On December 6, he met with the NY Times' Publisher and Executive Editor, in an attempt to ask them not to run the story they sat on for a year.

So let's see if we can review the course of events here.

NY Times reporter Judith Miller helped carry the Iraq WMD water for the Bush Crime Team, and now we find out that the very same newspaper KNEW for a year that George Bush was breaking the law by spying on Americans, without going through the proper channels.

There goes that liberal media for you!

Bush’s Snoopgate

Idiot Son appeared on the News Hour with Jim Leher on Friday, and was pressed about the breaking news of that day: the fact that Bush authorized the National Security Agency to illegally spy on Americans.

Bush refused to answer the questions about domestic spying (which, of course, he subsequently admitted to in his weekly radio address yesterday, and convenienty, with no reporters to question him about it).

But the most intriguing part of the interview, was when Bush told Leher (in reference to the spy scandal): "It's not the main story of the day."

So let me see if I can get this straight.

One of the first things that Bush made sure his aides were told in January 2001, was that he is not an avid reader, so don't give him any lengthy written briefings.

And we learned that during the height of Katrina, White House Communications Director Dan Bartlett realized Idiot Son did not understand the magnitude or seriousness of what was happening on the ground in NOLA, and so he made him a DVD of the newcasts from NOLA.

And Bush had the nerve to lecuture Leher on what he thinks the "main story of the day" should be?

JIM LEHRER: I mean, it's on the front page of the New York Times, the Washington Post, every newspaper in America today, and it's going--it's the main story of the day. So--

PRESIDENT BUSH: It's not the main story of the day.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/white_house/july-dec05/bush_12-16-05.html

Required Reading:

AP: Frist AIDS Charity Paid Consultants

George Bush has claimed, almost ad nauseum, that members of Congress saw the same intelligence that he and members of his Administration did, when it authorized the use of force against Iraq.

And here's a shocker (NOT!): it turns out that Bush lied. 

The Congressional Research Service, responding to an inquiry from Sen. Dianne Feinstein, has said that the Bush Administration had access to more intelligence information than Congress did.

In part, here is what the Congressional Research Service told Sen. Feinstein:

"This responds to your request for a discussion of Congress and its role as a consumer of national intelligence, and for a listing and a description of some of the U.S. Intelligence Community's principal intelligence products, including an identification of those which the executive branch routinely shares with Congress, and those which it does not.

Limitations on Congressional Access to Certain National Intelligence

By virtue of his constitutional role as commander-and-in-chief and head of the executive branch, the President has access to all national intelligence collected, analyzed and produced by the Intelligence Community. The President's position also affords him the authority - which, at certain times, has been aggressively asserted ⁽¹⁾ - to restrict the flow of intelligence information to Congress and its two intelligence committees, which are charged with providing legislative oversight of the Intelligence Community. ⁽²⁾ As a result, the President, and a small number of presidentially-designated Cabinet-level officials, including the Vice President ⁽³⁾ - in contrast to Members of Congress ⁽⁴⁾ - have access to a far greater overall volume of intelligence and to more sensitive intelligence information, including information regarding intelligence sources and methods. They, unlike Members of Congress, also have the authority to more extensively task the Intelligence Community, and its extensive cadre of analysts, for follow-up information. As a result, the President and his most senior advisors arguably are better positioned to assess the quality of the Community's intelligence more accurately than is Congress. ⁽⁵⁾

In addition to their greater access to intelligence, the President and his senior advisors also are better equipped than is Congress to assess intelligence information by virtue of the primacy of their roles in formulating U.S. foreign policy. Their foreign policy responsibilities often require active, sustained, and often personal interaction, with senior officials of many of the same countries targeted for intelligence collection by the Intelligence Community. Thus the President and his senior advisors are uniquely positioned to glean additional information and impressions - information that, like certain sensitive intelligence information, is generally unavailable to Congress - that can provide them with an important additional perspective with which to judge the quality of intelligence."

Congressional Research Service Memorandum to Sen. Feinstein (full text)

Report: Bush Had More Prewar Intelligence Than Congress

Flashback Quote From Idiot Son (a.k.a. George W. Bush)

"If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator."

- December 18, 2000

Many people thought Idiot Son made this comment in jest, but it seems quite apropos now.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0012/18/nd.01.html

The NY Times reports that George Bush allowed the super-secretive National Security Agency (NSA) to conduct domestic spying---and here's the kicker--WITHOUT THE COURT-APPROVED WARRANT that is normally required.

Republican Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committe, has said he will hold hearings on the issue next year, and stated "There is no doubt that this is inappropriate." 

Former NSA General Counsel  Elizabeth Rindskopft said she found it troubling that such a change to our spying policy would be made my executive order, while a former senior official specializing in security law said "This is really a sea change.  It's almost a mainstay of this country that the N.S.A. only does foreign searches."

Equally, troubling, the New York Times sat on this story for a year.  They say administration officials asked them not to publish the story, for fear it would tip off would-be terrorists (READ: or maybe even those pesky peace groups, speaking out against the war). The newspaper says it delayed publication on this story for a year, in order to "conduct additional reporting."

(Or maybe the "liberal" New York Times held off on the story, fearing it might negatively impact Junior in the 2004 election).

On Capitol Hill today, the Senate (wisely) rejected the renewal of portions of the U.S. Patriot Act (a.k.a the Spy Act, b.k.a. the Civil Liberties Abuses Act).

Bush Lets U.S. Spy on Callers Without Courts

Bush Approved Eavesdropping, Official Says

Bush won't confirm report NSA spied on Americans

Looks like Bill O'Reilly (or is that O'LIEly) is at it again.

On the December 9 episode of his Fox News Show, he reported that a school in Plano, TX told their student population they could not were red or green, because they are Christmas colors.

Well, looks like O'Reilly completely fabricated that story.

Following is a copy of an email sent to parents in the Plano school district:

Dear Plano ISD eNews Subscribers:

On Friday, December 9, on the Fox News Channel's "The O'Reilly Factor,"
with Bill O'Reilly and guest Jim Pinkerton, Fox 4 News analyst, it was falsely reported in a segment entitled "More Victories for Christmas" that ...

....."In Plano, Texas, a school told students they couldn't wear red and
green because they are Christmas colors."......

Due to the number of e-mails, inquiries and phone calls to Plano ISD
regarding students "wearing red and green," Superintendent of Schools
Dr. Doug Otto is e-mailing this communication to eNews subscribers (and has posted this message on the PISD website) to assure the school community that this rumor is false.

"The school district does not restrict students or staff from wearing certain color clothes during holiday times or any other school days," noted Dr. Otto, who said that the school district's attorney has requested that Mr. O'Reilly retract the statement.

Dr. Otto said that our attorney requested of Mr. O'Reilly that, in the
future, he ask his fact checkers to do a more thorough job of confirming the facts before he airs them.

"It would be our hope that you would engage in fair and balanced reporting of this nationally recognized school district in the future," PISD's attorney wrote to Mr. O'Reilly.

http://poynter.org/forum/?id=32365

Hmm....so you knew there had to be a catch to Junior's plan for NOLA. 

And now, here it is.

Seems that the Army Corps of Engineers is saying that Bush's plan will do nothing to protect the Lower 9th Ward, New Orleans East or St. Bernard Parish.

Incidentally, these are the places where some of the poorest residents of New Orleans lived.

Once again, the least of us, left out and locked out.

New plan won't protect St. Bernard, Lower Ninth or N.O. East

Even BushCo. has sense enough to be worried about the Pentagon's plan to plant pro-U.S. stories in foreign media outlets, without identifying the U.S. government as the source.

Pentagon rolls out stealth PR

Official: Al-Zarqawi caught, released--Breaking News of the night: Terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was actually captured last year by Iraqi security forces, but they did not recogize it was the Jordanian born terrorist, and he was released.

Elections Official: Some Voting Machines Could Be Hacked- Elections official in Florida says that testing done on some of their voting machines shows that the machines could indeed be hacked.

So during an interview on Fox News, Idiot Son proclaimed that he believes Tom Delay will be found innocent of money-laundering charges (which he is expected to go on trial for sometime next year).

Yet, Bush has refused to fully comment on the CIA leak case, saying it was a serious legal matter and it would be inappropriate for him to comment.

Let's do the Bush 2-step dance now!

Democrats blast Bush comment on pending legal case

In it's new report "Excluded and Invisible," the organization UNICEF says there are millions of "invisible" children in the world.

Millions of the world's most vulnerable, neediest children are "invisible" to their own governments, because there is no record of their birth.

Children who are orphans due to AIDS, as well as those who are forced into early marriages, also account for those who have fallen off their government's radar screen.

Millions of children "invisible": UNICEF

Don't bother Conservative Christians with that pesky poverty issue!  You can almost here them saying 'Poverty? What poverty?'

Seems like cutting domestic spending programs for the poor is not a sexy enough issue for so-called 'Christian' conservatives.

Paul Hetrick, a spokesman for right-wing nut job James Dobson's Focus on the Family, says "It's not a question of the poor not being important or that meeting their needs is not important.  But whether or not a baby is killed in the seventh or eighth month of pregnancy, that is less important than help for the poor? We would respectfully disagree with that."  (So let me see if I can get this straight, Mr. Hetrick.  Love the fetus, hate the child seems to be your modus operandi. The obligation to a child ends once that child is born?  I get it now!)

Hetrick's fellow right-wing fundie, Tony Perkins from the Family Research Council, says "There is a [biblical] mandate to take care of the poor. There is no dispute of that fact.  But it does not say government should do it. That's a shifting of responsibility."

Forgive me, Mr. Perkins, for thinking that we all live in this world together, and we are not a country unto ourselves.  Forgive me for thinking that Jesus Christ was talking to ALL OF US (as human beings) when he said "Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." (Matthew 25:40).

Forgive me, Mr. Perkins, for thinking He was talking to all of us in Matthew 25:35: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in."

A Religious Protest Largely From the Left: Conservative Christians Say Fighting Cuts in Poverty Programs Is Not a Priority

So Bushie says that Defense Secretary Donald Rumseld has done a "heck of a good job" and he has no plans to replace him.  "End of my term is a long time, but I tell you, he's done a heck of a good job, and I have no intention of changing him."

Hmmm..Bushie, are you talking about the same Rumsfeld who told the Senate Armed Services Committee in September 2002 that "we know" where the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq are.

The same Rumseld who, on the eve of the Iraq war, let the Pentagon give our military leaders on the ground in Iraq a slide presentation on post-war planning that said "To Be Provided."

Bush Backs Rumsfeld, DeLay in Interview

http://www.forbes.com/work/feeds/ap/2005/12/14/ap2392932.html

So now Bob Novack says that he's confident George W. Bush knows who leaked former covert CIA operative Valerie Plame's name.

In a question and answer session after a speech he gave, Novack said "I'd be amazed" if Junior DID NOT know who leaked Plame's name.

Bob Novak Says President Knows Leak Source

On November 2, The Washington Post first reported allegations that the United States was running secret prisons overseas.

Now, an investigation by a Swiss Senator, Dick Marty, has confirmed the existence of the secret prisons.

Marty's investigation found that the United States illegally held detainees in Europe, but rushed to ship the last detainees to North Africa once word of the secret prisons got out.

Some European officals have said the existence of these prisons would violate their continent's "human rights principles."

Investigator: U.S. Shipped Out Detainees

In an interview with George W. Bush, NBC's Brian Williams asked Junior about the Administration's early assertion that we would be greated as liberators.

Junior responded: "I think we are welcomed. But it was not a peaceful welcome."

So Junior, if the "welcome" was not a peaceful one, how could it be considered a welcome?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10439994/page/3/
 

NBC News has obtained a previously secret, 400-page document produced by the Defense Department, which shows the United States Government is spying on Americans; particularly, activists and organizations that align themselves with peace.

The spy database includes approximately four (4) dozen anti-war meetings and protests, some of which took place far away from any military installation or building.

In particular, the Pentagon spied on a group of activists coming together at a Quaker Meeting House in Florida.  On their agenda: protesting military recruitment at high schools.  (Oh the horror.  How dare they protest?  How dare they not want their young children to go off to war!)

So, dear American citizen, just be careful the next time you DARE to have an opinion about a political matter, or want to peacefully assemble.  You could be on the Pentagon's candid camera.

Is the Pentagon spying on Americans?

George Bush said today that his illegal invasion of Iraq (ok, so maybe he left out the illegal invasion part) has produced approximately 30,000 dead Iraqis. 

Sadly, Junior will never admit that these innocent Iraqis have died for the creation of an Islamic theocracy.

Bush: 30,000 Iraqis Killed In War

A federal judge has ruled that the Federal Emergency Management (or Mismanagement) Agency extend by one month, it's program has put up tens of thousands of displaced  Americans in hotels.  The judge ordered that the program be extended until February 7, one month after the deadline that FEMA had set.

Judge orders extension of FEMA hotel program

Edit to add new article link:

Thousands still waiting for FEMA trailers (Fewer than half the 25,000 promised have been delivered)

Today's required reading comes courtesy of the New York Times:

Death of an American City

Also check out this must-read from Bloomberg news:

Bush's Attention Wanders From Katrina as Reconstruction Lags

While the unemployment rate for Caucasian Americans holds steady, the African-American unemployment rate has risen to 10.6%, more than twice that of the national average.

George Bush likes to talk up the economy (much like he does the "progress" in Iraq), but the reality remains that many Americans (particularly African-Americans) are being left out and locked out, especially in a post-Katrina environment.

Blacks’ Joblessness Growing While White Unemployment Rate Holds Steady

“To the reticent nations, including the United States, I say there is such a thing as a global conscience, and now is the time to listen to it.”

Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin, in a stern (and well-deserved) rebuke to the United States, for its unwilingness to sign on to the Kyoto Protocol and take responsibility for climate change.

"You apparently were incurious. You didn't want to travel. You knew very little about the military. ... Do you think that has anything to do with the fact that the country is so [expletive] up?"

-- 60 Minutes correspondent Mike Wallace, on what he would like to ask George W. Bush.

Looks like Michael "doing a heck of a job" Brown received a "dire" warning last year, that the Federal Emergency Management Agency was not prepared for "the next big one."

He was told the agency that he led was operating under outdated plans.

Despite those dire warnings, thousands of people died..while Brownie was more concerned with being the "fashion God" that he declared himself to be.

Oh, the trust cost of cronyism.

FEMA chief was given dire warning in 2004

Brown was told response teams were not prepared for 'next big one'

Karl Rove still in the cross hairs (read: legal jeopardy):

CIA leak prosecutor again goes before grand jury

Today's Quote of the Day:

"They Died From Abject Neglect"--Community activist Leah Hodges, speaking during a special House panel hearing on the government's response to Hurricane Katrina, from the perspective of African-American survivors.

Katrina victims blame racism for slow aid

9/11 Panel Gives Gov't Poor Marks on Reform-  Members of the 9/11 Public Discourse Project (formerly the 9/11 Commission) said the government deserves a "dismal grade for its lack of urgency in enacting strong security measures to prevent terror attacks."  Thomas Kean, a former Republican Governor (R-NJ) and former head of the 9/11 Commission, says the government's performance is "not very well."

Documents Show Katrina's Political Storm- Newly released documents show that Governor Kathleen Blanco warned the federal government before Hurricane Katrina struck, that the hurricane was expected to be of such a magnitude, that would be beyond the scope and capability of local or state resources, and that the state of Louisiana would need the federal government's help.  The day before Katrina made landfall, Blanco sent a letter to the White House which said: ""I have determined that this incident will be of such severity and magnitude that effective response will be beyond the capabilities of the state and the affected local governments and that supplementary federal assistance will be necessary."

Lawyers in the Justice Department concluded that the Texas redistricting plan that Tom Delay lobbied for was illegal and violating the Voting Rights Act.  They found that Delay's redistricting plan illegally diluted African-American and Hispanic voting strength in two Texas districts.

But senior officials (read: political appointees) overruled the career lawyers at Justice, and approved the plan.

Mark Posner was a longtime lawyer at DOJ, and now teaches law at American University.  He told the Washington Post it is very unusual for the concurring opionion of DOJ lawyers to be overruled by political appointees in the Department.

"In this kind of situation, where everybody agrees at least on the staff level . . . that is a very, very strong case.   The fact that everybody agreed that there were reductions in minority voting strength, and that they were significant, raises a lot of questions as to why it was" approved.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/01/AR2005120101927.html?referrer=email

According to a new CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll, most Americans (55%) do not believe George W. Bush has a plan for Iraq. Moreover, 54% said Shrub's handling of the Iraq war was poor.

It appears that Karl Rove's PR campaign isn't working.  See what happens when the truth gets in the way, Turdblossom?

Poll: Most doubt Bush has plan for Iraq victory

Today's award for Idiot Quote of the Day goes to the esteemed Pat Robertson, who apparently has some insight into the minds of African-Americans.

During an interview with Fox News hore John Gibson, Pat Robertson said:

GIBSON: I have said it before, so I don't think I'm getting into any trouble for saying it today. I think one of the reasons Kerry lost is that Christian liberals felt that the hostility expressed by the Democratic Party toward Christians made them uncomfortable. African-Americans did not turn out to vote for Kerry as they were expected to. Christian liberals of the Eastern seaboard didn't turn out as they were expected to, and I've always said, look, if you got [Democratic National Committee chairman] Howard Dean going around complaining about right-wing evangelicals, other Christians are going to say, hmmm, this makes me a little uncomfortable to hear that kind of talk.

ROBERTSON: Well, I just think it's really -- if you haven't got a Democratic nominee who can be called "Bubba," you're not going to get him in office.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200512010019