Main Stream Media Is Missing A Wall Street Story

No major news outlet is covering "Occupy Wall Street"!  You might call your favorite news station and ask why.

Tim Russert - "The Nominee"

In case you haven't been near a TV lately, here is Tim Russert and Keith Olbermann discussing the Democratic presidential race:



Have a great day everyone!

FISA is Outdated?

George Bush held a press conference to reassure us all that our rights have been protected and will continue to be. Then he demanded that we give retroactive immunity to telecom companies and not hold them responsible for violating the rights that he says are being protected. He basically said that allowing Americans recourse to having their Constitutional rights violated would be "patently unfair".

So...did anyone else know that one can take classes in how to speak Orwell at Yale?

I found the Olbermann video after I had started this entry. If you only have time for one video, I'd watch his.



Apparently, Keith Olbermann feels like I do.

"It was legal, but it was the kind of legal for which you still need immunity just like it wasn't legal."

FISA is out of date?

Keith Olbermann - Mr. Bush, You Are a Fascist!

Keith Olbermann commenting on the House standing up to Mr.Bush's fascist push to retroactively grant immunity to the telecom companies.



Some of my favorite lines:

"You are a fascist. Get them to print you a t-shirt with "Fascist" on it!"

AND

"This Saturday at midnight", you said today, "legislation authorizing intelligence professionals to quickly and effectively monitor terrorist communications will expire. If Congress does not act by that time, our ability to find out who the terrorists are talking to, what they are saying and what they are planning will be compromised." You said that "the lives of countless Americans depend" on your getting your way."

"This is crap. And you sling it with an audacity and a speed unrivaled by even the greatest political felons of our history."

What do you think?

Bush Holding FISA Hostage for Telecom Immunity?

During his State of the Union address last week, Bush demanded an extension (permanent) of the FISA law. As he mentioned in his address, he wants complete immunity for telecom companies. I can't believe we even have to discuss such issues.

I thought you might enjoy Keith Olbermann's views:

We appreciate you Keith.

Canada Puts United States On Torture List

Hello America! Does it bother anyone that one of our closest allies, physically and metaphorically, has included us on their torture list? I expect it is not something that was said lightly or without consideration of consequence.

Is this what the democracy we are spreading to the world is supposed to look like?

Whose freedoms are we fighting for and where did my habeas corpus go?

Keith Olbermann on Waterboarding

Keith Olbermann special commentary for 5 November 2006:

Spying Prior to 9/11 and Forcible Injections

Keith Olbermann addresses allegations made by Quest's former CEO that illegal domestic spying was going on prior to 9/11 and an immigration official's testimony to congress that at least 48 immigrant detainees have been forcibly injected with dangerous drugs.

(Reported in the Washington Post via C&L):

Former chief executive Joseph P. Nacchio, convicted in April of 19 counts of insider trading, said the NSA approached Qwest more than six months before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, according to court documents unsealed in Denver this week. Read more…

A former Qwest Communications International executive, appealing a conviction for insider trading, has alleged that the government withdrew opportunities for contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars after Qwest refused to participate in an unidentified National Security Agency program that the company thought might be illegal.

Olbermann on The Promotion of Failure

Keith Olbermann speaking yesterday, 11 September 2007.

His top story?

The Promotion of Failure in the Bush Administration.

(Thanks to C&L for the video.)

Thank you, Keith Olbermann, for your meritorious service to this country.

Cheney Claims He is Not Part of the Executive Branch

House investigators have learned that, over the objections of the National Archives, Vice President Cheney exempted himself from an executive order designed to safeguard classified national security information.

Sec. 6.1(b) of the executive order clearly outlines that it applies to any “‘Executive agency…any ‘Military department’…and any other entity within the executive branch that comes into the possession of classified information.” To support his position, Dick Cheney and the White House are claiming that the Vice President is not part of the executive branch of government!

Vice President Cheney's office offered its first public written explanation yesterday for its refusal to comply with an executive order regulating the handling of classified material as it argued that the order does not make the vice president subject to the oversight system it creates for federal agencies.

In a letter to John Kerry, David S. Addington (Cheney's Chief of Staff) wrote that the order treats the vice president the same as the president and distinguishes them both from "agencies" subject to the oversight provisions of the executive order.

The reasoning given last time was that the VP's office is not strictly an executive branch agency but also shares legislative functions because the vice president presides over the Senate. (That's like me claiming I am not impacted by rules affecting all human kind because I am not just a human, but a redhead too.)

Last week, Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) stated that since 2003, Cheney's office had failed to provide data on its classification and declassification activities as required by Executive Order 12958, which President Bush has amended and endorsed.

The National Archives and Records Administration polices executive branch compliance with rules protecting classified information. In 2004, Cheney’s office intervened to block an on-site inspection by the Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO), a requirement of the executive order. Cheney's aides have not filed reports on their possession of classified data and blocked an inspection of their office by officials at the National Archives, according to documents released last week by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Kerry rejected Addington's arguments. "This legalistic response raises more questions than it purports to answer," the senator said in a statement. "I . . . ask again for the Vice President's office to plainly answer the question of whether he considers himself outside the realm of agency scrutiny."

According to Waxman, this is the first time in the nearly 30 year history of the Information Security Oversight Office that a request for access to conduct a security inspection was denied by a White House office.”

Whitehouse e-mail Scandal Expands in Scope

David Shuster talks about a preliminary House Oversight Committee report on possible violations of the Presidential Records Act by White House officials during an interview with Keith Olberman on MSNBC's "Countdown". The report shows hundreds of thousands of these e-mails have likely been illegally destroyed.

The House Oversight Committee report shows that Karl Rove, Andrew Card, Ken Mehlman, and Alberto Gonzales were all involved. The report also indicates that there are at least 88 other White House officials involved! Susan Ralston was also involved and gave testimony you can read here. It's worth a read. I put it there for a reason...READ IT!!!

(Another video, courtesy of C&L)

"Republicans equal life; Democrats equal death?"

It's been a while since I posted an Olbermann rant. Olbermann accuses Rudolph Giuliani of exploiting fear for power and gain. Let me remind everyone, I'm not a Republican or a Democrat and do not support either side.



I do, however, enjoy Keith Olbermann's rants.

Congress Subpoenas Justice Department.

Keith Olbermann gets an update from David Schuster in Washington regarding Alberto Gonzales and the Congressional request for information from the administration and the Justice Department. The Justice Department has been refusing to turn over documents and Congress has now subpoenaed the documents. The request includes the full text of the 3000 documents (large portions had been redacted, blacked out or just missing) already received and the Justice Department electronic data and metadata. Bush officials said the information had been censored for privacy issues (protecting the names of prosecutors considered for firing, but are still employed). Critics of the administration say that the documents have been held back because they support allegations that firings were done for purely political reasons. The document, signed by John Conyers has an April 16th 2pm deadline.

Presidential Address

I'm sending more of your children off to die!

21,500 More troops to Iraq.

In his speech (read the Whitehouse transcript here), George Bush said:

"Succeeding in Iraq also requires defending its territorial integrity and stabilizing the region in the face of extremist challenges. This begins with addressing Iran and Syria."

Keith's response:

"Only this president, only in this time, only with this dangerous, even messianic certitude, could answer a country demanding an exit strategy from Iraq, by offering an entrance strategy for Iran."

Below is Keith Olbermann's response to Bush's October 10th speech advising the nation that he is sending 21,500 more troops to Iraq:

"Before Mr. Bush was elected, he said nation-building was wrong for America.

Now he says it is vital.

He said he would never put U.S. troops under foreign control.

Last night he promised to embed them in Iraqi units."

Military Commisions Act Response

I tried to address the Military Commissions Act of 2006 this morning. I ended up with a 3 page rant. I have decided to spare you my disjointed frustration with our Congress, Senate, and the Administration and let Keith have the floor this morning:

Darkest Day in American History

Military Commissions Act of 2006

A disgusting piece of tyranny, portrayed as a necessary protection for American citizens that has the exact opposite impact, was passed by Democrats and Republicans, Conservatives and Liberals and has been signed into law by George W. Bush. It marks today as the darkest day in American history.

Use the Library of Congress to search for the Military Commissions Act of 2006 to read the bill yourself. Wake up and smell the detention centers.

Section 1, Article 9 of the United States Constitution states: The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.

Subchapter 7, section 7 of the new law states:

No court, justice, or judge shall have jurisdiction to hear or consider an application for a writ of habeas corpus filed by or on behalf of an alien detained by the United States who has been determined by the United States to have been properly detained as an enemy combatant or is awaiting such determination.

(2) Except as provided in paragraphs (2) and (3) of section 1005(e) of the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 (10 U.S.C. 801 note), no court, justice, or judge shall have jurisdiction to hear or consider any other action against the United States or its agents relating to any aspect of the detention, transfer, treatment, trial, or conditions of confinement of an alien who is or was detained by the United States and has been determined by the United States to have been properly detained as an enemy combatant or is awaiting such determination.

b) Effective Date- The amendment made by subsection (a) shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act , and shall apply to all cases, without exception, pending on or after the date of the enactment of this Act which relate to any aspect of the detention, transfer, treatment, trial, or conditions of detention of an alien detained by the United States since September 11, 2001.

Crimes that are now triable by military commission:

Murder, attacking civilians, attacking civilian objects, attacking protected property, pillaging (theft), denying quarter, taking hostages, employing poisons (drug dealing), using protected persons as a shield, using protected property as a shield, torture, cruel or inhuman treatment, intentionally causing serious bodily injury, mutilating, destruction of property in violation of the law of war (vandalism), using treachery, improperly using a flag of truce, improperly using a distinctive emblem, mistreating a dead body, rape, sexual assault or abuse, hijacking a vessel or aircraft, providing material support for terrorism, wrongfully aiding the enemy, spying, conspiracy, perjury, obstruction of justice, and contempt.

Additional sections of interest regarding who is covered:

(26) WRONGFULLY AIDING THE ENEMY- Any person subject to this chapter who, in breach of an allegiance or duty to the United States, knowingly and intentionally aids an enemy of the United States, or one of the co-belligerents of the enemy, shall be punished as a military commission under this chapter may direct.

(b) Contempt- A military commission under this chapter may punish for contempt any person who uses any menacing word, sign, or gesture in its presence, or who disturbs its proceedings by any riot or disorder.

Habeas Corpus...Pre-9/11 Thinking

RIP Habeas Corpus
1215 AD-2006

When the Military Commissions Act of 2006 is signed, we will no longer be able to claim to wear the white hats. I am disgusted with and disappointed in our Congress and Senate, am ashamed for our country. and feel remorse toward the citizens of our planet.

Take a look at Keith Olbermann's point of view regarding the pending death of habeas corpus:

Response to Mr. Rumsfeld

This one is really worth the six minutes and 41 seconds it takes to watch.
Keith Olberman responds to Mr. Rumsfeld's comments. Thank you for your passion, Keith.