10/21/05 Morning News Stories.
Story of The Day
Capitol Hill Blue
Death Watch at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Multiple Excerpts Needed for This One
RICHMOND, Texas - Rep. Tom DeLay was ordered to appear at the sheriff's office in his home county of Fort Bend for booking on state conspiracy and money laundering charges.
A state court issued an arrest warrant on Wednesday for DeLay and set an initial $10,000 bail, a routine step before the Texas Republican's first court appearance Friday in Austin.
DeLay could be fingerprinted and photographed, although his lawyers had hoped to avoid this step.
“Rove’s role is diminished already,” says one White House aide. “He still meets with The President daily but all this has taken its toll. He looks terrible.”
“The façade is gone and we are now seeing the Bush White House in all its incompetent glory,” says retired political science professor George Harleigh. “They’ve ignored reality for too long.”
With Congress distracted by growing scandals swirling around former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, Washington has become a daily killing field for anyone involved in the GOP leadership.
H.L.s Take: We've been waiting for this for 5 years. We've been trying to tell people what is really going on. We have been trying to tell people that Bush, and the Republicans are bad for America. Hey People, do you hear us now?
AP
Abuse Story Breaks at a Bad Time for Bush
Excerpt: WASHINGTON - WASHINGTON - Allegations that U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan burned the bodies of Taliban fighters couldn't have come at a worse time for the Bush administration, already fighting legislation in Congress that would impose standards on the Pentagon's treatment of detainees.
Lurid television pictures of the incident also may further tarnish the U.S. image in the Middle East.
Senate Republicans said the alleged U.S. troop participation goes to the heart of why Congress must pass legislation to standardize techniques used in the detention, interrogation and prosecution of detainees in the war on terrorism.
H.L.s Take: But these bastard neocons are still saying that "Torture is Good Because It Saves Lives" Yeah except what happens when they torture our guys because we are doing it to them. I'd love to see anyone who thinks torture is such a good weapon recieve a good dose of it, then tell me how you feel. That woulud make a great Pay Per View Event. We could get Don King to produce it.
AP
DeLay in Court; Lawyers Request New Judge
Excerpt: Prosecutor Ronnie Earle signaled he intends to contest the request for a new judge.
"What this means is if a judge had contributed to Crime Stoppers that judge could not hear a burglary case," Earle said. "Carried to its extreme, that is what I think this motion means and I think that's absurd."
"We don't live in a country where political party determines the measure of justice," Earle said,
H.L.s Take: I guess old Tom figured he would just bribe the judge, but I guess he found one that won't be bribed. Hey Tom get ready to meet your new cellmate.
AP
White House Defense Shaky in CIA Leak Case
Excerpt: Until this week, "the news media did it" was a standard defense among Republicans trying to protect the Bush administration from the political fallout of Fitzgerald's criminal investigation. Loyalists said that even if White House aides had passed on information, they didn't get it from classified sources and were simply repeating what they heard from journalists.
In grand jury testimony shown to Rove, Libby said he had told Rove about information he had gotten about Wilson's wife from Russert, according to a person directly familiar with the information.
Prosecutors, however, have a different account from Russert. The TV network has said Russert told authorities he did not know Wilson's wife's identity until it was published and therefore could not have told Libby about it. Russert also says that it was Libby who initiated the contact with him.
AP
Miers Firm Received Bush Campaign Payments
Excerpt: Campaign records show Bush's Texas gubernatorial campaigns paid Miers a total of $163,000 in legal fees, most of it for work done during the future president's 1998 re-election bid.
Some senators are planning to explore Miers' legal work for Bush during her confirmation process to be the newest Supreme Court justice, but the White House says it won't release any memos detailing that work.
"I think people across the country recognize the importance of attorney-client privilege," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.
H.L.s Take: No Scott, I think people across the country don't like to be lied to by the biggest lying paid whore of all time. When was the last time Scott said anything that wasn't complet B.S. He knows we know he's lying but they keep paying so he keeps doing it. Of course Bush wont release the papers. There was no need to even put that in the story. Its like saying that we have to breathe to continue living.
Alternet
A Long Overdue Frog-March
Excerpt: The coming months are likely to see senior Bush administration officials frog-marched out of the White House to be booked, unless the president moves swiftly to fire Fitzgerald -- a distinct possibility.
H.L.s Take: No need for Bush to fire the special prosecutor, he can just pardon Rove, Libby, and Cheney, after they are found guilty. Just like his father did for Negroponte, and the other Iran Contra Felons, who still work for the White House
FindLaw
Waiting For The Valerie Plame Wilson Grand Jury: The Big Question Is Whether Dick Cheney Was a Target
By JOHN W. DEAN
Excerpt: The really big fish in this case is the Vice President. And I have little doubt, based on my knowledge of the case, and of the way Cheney typically operates, that a case could be made against him.
But Fitzgerald is an experienced prosecutor, and that means only if he found himself confronted with an exceptionally egregious case (the equivalent of Spiro Agnew's taking payoffs from Maryland contractors in his Vice Presidential Office), would Fitzgerald consider indicting Vice President Dick Cheney.
Make no mistake, Fitzgerald has the power to indict anyone he finds to have violated federal law -- and there are over 4,000 criminal laws today. And understand that prosecutors who truly want to nail someone (as Kenneth Starr did with President Bill Clinton) can do just that.
But Ken Starr was not a seasoned prosecutor. And it may make a difference that Fitzgerald and Cheney are both Republicans, whereas, of course, Starr and Clinton were politically opposed. As a rule, prosecutors do not bite the hand of the party that feeds them.
H.L.s Take: Dean is saying, dont start celebrating just yet, Its possible that no Indictments at all will come of this. Lets wait and see
Moscow Times
Flop Sweat
Excerpt: Of course, we all know that the fix is in: If anyone in the White House is actually indicted and convicted for the high crime of exposing the identity of an undercover agent -- in wartime, no less -- they will certainly be pardoned when George W. Bush finally limps away from the steaming, stinking, blood-soaked ruin of his presidency. Nobody will do any hard time; in the end, the whole sick crew will simply pass through the golden revolving door into the lifetime gravy train of corporate grease and right-wing lecture-circuit glory.
Still, it is heartening to see the fever-sweat of fear popping out on the brows of these swaggering world-shakers, these third-rate goons and half-wit cranks posing as great statesmen
H.L.s Take: Another guy who says the indictments will not happen. These guys have been getting away with so much for so long, its easy to see why people won't believe it till they see it. I think this time at least one person, probably Libby, is going down.
Anti-War.com
Don't Play Innocent, Democrats
Excerpt: Let us not forget the road's beginning, which is sometimes easy to do. The House passed Joint Resolution 114 authorizing the use of the United States armed forces against Iraq on Oct. 10, 2002, by a vote of 296-133 (note: 81 Democrats voted for authorization, six Republicans voted against). On Oct. 11, it passed the Senate by a vote of 77-23 (again: 28 Democrats voted to give authorization, one Republican against). It was signed by the president and became law on Oct. 16, 2002. To those who think Congress moves slowly, all of this transpired in two weeks. Three hundred seventy-three representatives, including 109 from the so-called opposition party, such as presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, sent our family members off to war.
H.L.s Take: Oh don't worry, we here at The H.L. is not about to let anyone forget that. They are all on the same side against us. Sweep them all out of office, and I mean ALL.
Huffington Post
Sorry, Judy... Everybody Didn't Get it Wrong on WMD
Excerpt: In the Times' Sunday Judy-Culpa, Judy Miller said of her woeful pre-war reporting: "WMD -- I got it totally wrong... The analysts, the experts and the journalists who covered them -- we were all wrong."
To which a growing number of journalists are responding: No, we weren't.
Among them is Joe Lauria, a reporter who has covered the UN since 1990 for a variety of papers, including the London Daily Mail, the Daily Telegraph, and the Boston Globe.
He bridles at Miller's claim. "I didn't get it wrong," he told me. "And a lot of others who covered the lead up to the war didn't get it wrong.
H.L.s Take: No need for Bush to fire the special prosecutor, he can just pardon Rove, Libby, and Cheney, after they are found guilty. Just like his father did for Negroponte, and the other Iran Contra Felons, who still work for the White House
H.L.s Take: I knew the WMDs were not there, I knew it from reading it on many websites which use real journalists, not paid deathwhores like Judith Miller. If I knew, how come Congress, and the New York Times didn't know? I guess I have better intelligence then they do.
Better Ca.com
Arnold Breaks The Law Again. Illegal Mail
Excerpt: The California Recovery Team (CRT) has been violating the law by sending out campaign mail that illegally uses discounted non-profit postage and displays a fraudulent union bug. Both actions are violations of federal law. We have requested an investigation by the USPS and announced possible legal action unless they cease their activities.
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