Just read Glenn's third update... that John Edwards will be on Countdown with Keith Olbermann today and that it will be worth watching...

Well, that's in less than ten minutes...

I hope all you decideds against John and undecideds will be watching...

It's not too late to actually vote for someone who might actually do what he says instead of simply says platitudes to get your vote.

The Center for Public Integrity is proud to announce the release of its latest investigative report, Iraq: The War Card — Orchestrated Deception on the Path to War, and wants you to be among the first to know!

The Center's founder, Chuck Lewis, and researchers at the Fund for Independence in Journalism have painstakingly detailed 935 false statements by Bush administration officials about the national security threat posed by Saddam Hussein's Iraq. This exhaustive examination shows that these officials were part of a calculated campaign to galvanize public opinion that ultimately led to the war in Iraq under false pretenses.

The statements, made over two years starting with September 11, 2001, were made by President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and other top administration officials. Not surprisingly, the officials with the most opportunities to make speeches, grant media interviews, and otherwise frame the public debate also made the most false statements, according to this first-ever comprehensive analysis of the entire body of prewar rhetoric.

read the whole thing at: http://ga6.org/publicintegrity/notice-description.tcl?newsletter_id=14641495

PS- don't bother with shooter and anonymuck. they could care less about democracy, the constitution, torture, treason, rule of law, privacy, or really anything that isn't might makes right.

Brute force wrapped in a shawl, disguised as someone's grammy.

On what planet is fear that I am going to be made to wear a Burka by the Taliban even remotely comparable to the legitimate fear of a government that just sentenced an American to 17 years in jail for a thought crime after torturing him for 5 years in dungeons?

Good lord- reich winging bushbots make me laugh.

What law is broken during the analyzation of calling data?

...] The terrorists waging war against this country don’t fight according to the rules of warfare, or international law, or moral standards, or basic humanity. And we have to be clear-eyed about the character and objective of these adversaries. They have a strategic goal to recreate the old seventh-century caliphate [...]

That quote has always reminded me of a passage in 1984 in which the telescreen is droning on and on about the nature of the current enemy- which ALWAYS is more evil than the last enemy- and doesn't fight "according to the rules" (like the Geneva convention or ancient protocols of diplomacy?) or moral standards (like centuries old taboos against torture) or basic humanity (Like bombing infrastructure or blockading a nation for a decade murdering half million children?) and how we must be resilient in the face of this never ever before rivaled horrific new evil.

American doesn't fight enemies- it fights devils. Make no mistake- the US has to keep Americans from as much contact with this "enemy" as possible because the wars are so beyond unjustified. Whenever you hear politicians say that "normal methods" of war have to jettisoned because the enemy is so evil- it pretty much means they themselves are evil and are the ones jettisoning moral standards and humanity.

You missed the point of my metaphor entirely: shooter seems to think that "no harm done" and "good intentions" is an adequate standard for even investigating crimes, nevermind prosecuting them.

Breaking and entering is never done without harm, nor with good intentions. The very act of breaking into a house is a crime, regardless of whether property is also stolen. That is nothing like calling data. Calling data does not need to be broken into, nor does it need to be stolen from those making the phone calls. Individuals do not own their calling data. It is not a privacy issue, nor is it an illegal search and seizure issue. The 4th amendment does not apply here.

You, like Shooter, do not understand (or at least you do not value) the concept of ‘rule of law.’

In December the voice mailboxes of the Senators were full. Today, not so. Will we generate the one million calls?

Call your Senators, please!!!!!!!

How does a "man" do that? Are they really afraid that some comic book CIA operative with a cartoon glock is coming to arrest him while he sleeps? What sort of intelligent man spends more time worrying about "FBI Agents" coming to eavesdrop on him than about extremists who have declared war on him? Could one of them explain to me how "Bush" is going to make my mommy go to jail and make me call a terrorist, repeatedly? One actually reads this sort of talk on "liberal" websites. They actually fear that they will be forced to go to Gitmo. Are they insane? Under what sort of any plausible scenerio could that EVER come to pass? Anyone? Please- tell me. What am I missing here?

9/11! Everything changed! They hate us for our freedoms! Freedom is on the march! New England Patriots undefeated season! Proud to be an American ‘cause at least I know I’m free! USA! USA! USA!

http://tinyurl.com/2hmx82

Go check it out.

This is pathological. No wonder no one can stand Congress. Can someone please draw them a roadmap of their a$$?

Cheers,

This, apparently, is what the Democrats fear and/or respect:

Four video clips of Cheney's speech:

http://www.heritage.org/video/Cheney08Video.cfm

Heritage Video > Cheney Visits Heritage 2008

Vice President Cheney Visits The Heritage Foundation
Vice President Cheney spoke at The Heritage Foundation on January 23, 2008. He discussed the terrorist threat posed by Islamic Extremists and how America should confront the threat.

1. Cheney on terrorist threat after 9/11

2. Cheney on the need to update FISA

3. Cheney on liability protection for telecom companies

4. Cheney on American heroes in Iraq and Afghanistan

Transcript of Cheney's speech:

http://blog.heritage.org/2008/01/23/cheney-calls-on-congress-to-update-fisa/

Cheney Calls on Congress to Update FISA
January 23, 2008 5:33 pm

[...] I want to thank Ed and the entire staff at Heritage for hosting me today. Heritage, of course, is one of the great centers of scholarship, policy insight, and creativity [...]

[...] Next Monday night the President will report to the House and the Senate on the State of the Union, and lay out a program for security and prosperity [...]

[...] Today I’d like to explain why it is so urgent that Congress update the FISA law effective immediately and permanently.

[...] The United States of America has not experienced a catastrophic attack since the morning of September 11th, 2001. In the days following 9/11, we had to assume that another attack was imminent. We proceeded on that basis, mobilizing against the danger, and using every legitimate tool at our command to protect the American people against another attack. It is a fact, as well, that the danger to our country remains very real, and that the terrorists are still determined to hit us. They are fanatical in their hatred.

[...] The terrorists waging war against this country don’t fight according to the rules of warfare, or international law, or moral standards, or basic humanity. And we have to be clear-eyed about the character and objective of these adversaries. They have a strategic goal to recreate the old seventh-century caliphate [...]

[...] The unfortunate aspect of the Protect America Act is a sunset provision, which makes the law expire on the first of February –- just 10 days from now. That leaves Congress only nine days in which to act to keep the intelligence gap closed. And with the day of reckoning so close at hand, we’re reminding Congress that they must act now to modernize FISA.

[...] Second, the law should uphold an important principle: that those who assist the government in tracking terrorists should not be punished with lawsuits. We’re asking Congress to update FISA and especially to extend this protection to communications providers alleged to have given such assistance any time after September 11th, 2001. This is an important consideration, because some providers are facing dozens of lawsuits right now. Why? Because they are believed to have aided the U.S. government in the effort to intercept international communications of al Qaeda-related individuals.

We’re dealing here with matters of the utmost sensitivity. It’s not even proper to confirm whether any given company provided assistance. But we can speak in general terms. The fact is, the intelligence community doesn’t have the facilities to carry out the kind of international surveillance needed to defend this country since 9/11. In some situations there is no alternative to seeking assistance from the private sector. This is entirely appropriate. Indeed, the Protect America Act and other laws allow directives to be issued to private parties for intelligence-gathering purposes.

As Attorney General Mukasey has said, “Even if you believe the lawsuits will ultimately be dismissed, as we do, the prospect of having to defend against these massive claims is an enormous burden; the companies also may suffer significant business and reputational harm” from allegations they cannot even respond to publicly. One might even suppose that without liability protection for past activities to aid the government, the private sector might be extremely reluctant to comply with future requests from the government –- even though the requests are necessary to protect American lives. That risk is unacceptable to the President. It should be unacceptable to the United States Congress. Liability protection, retroactive to 9/11, is the right thing to do. It’s the right way to help us prevent another 9/11 down the road.

[...] Most of us understand the war is real, that we need to stay on the offensive, and that we have to proceed on many fronts at the same time. And if any of us ever lacks for inspiration, we need only look to the men and women doing the toughest work of all, 6,000 or more miles from home. Virtually every day I am briefed on the progress that our troops are making in Iraq and Afghanistan. And there’s never a day that I’m not very, very proud of them.

[...] We will do our part to keep this nation safe. We will press on despite any difficulty. And we will prevail.

Thank you very much.

- - Vice President Dick Cheney

Talking Points at the RNC web site:

http://gop.com/news/NewsRead.aspx?Guid=e081a3a7-8aba-4c30-beea-c693aa4991d7

Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Congress [Has] Only Nine Days … To Keep The Intelligence Gap Closed

"[...] Fighting the war on terror is a long-term enterprise that requires long-term, institutional changes [...]"
– – Vice President Dick Cheney, 1/23/08