Friday, October 14, 2005

Study: Highly potent pot increases memory. Study: Highly potent pot increases memory [The Raw Story | A rational voice - Alternative news] 8:45:09 PM    comment []

White House Loses Confidence in Rove. White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan, 7/12/05: Q Well, he has spoken about these questions that have come up as part of a leak investigation. So does he retain confidence in Karl Rove, specifically? MR. McCLELLAN: Yes. Any individual who works here at the White House has the President’s confidence. They wouldn’t be working here if they didn’t have the President’s confidence. White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan, Today: JESSICAL YELLIN: Does the president still have full confidence in Karl Rove? MCCLELLAN: Yeah, Jessica, this is asking questions all in the context of an ongoing investigation and — YELLIN: He is one of the the president’s chief advisors. Does he have confidence is his – MCCLELLAN: Karl continues to do his duties as deputy chief and staff and chief advisor to the president, and you’re trying to ask a question in the context of an ongoing investigation. The president has made it very clear that we’re not going to comment on an ongoing investigation. What we’re going to do is support the efforts of the special prosecutor. Of course, on July 12, the investigation was ongoing as well. The question remains the same. The situation remains the same. It’s the White House’s attitude about Karl Rove that’s changed. UPDATE: The Washington Post’s Jim VandeHei calls McClellan on it — VANDEHEI: Are you saying that — CIA leak aside — you can’t say that the president has full confidence in Karl Rove? MCCLELLAN: Uh, maybe you didn’t hear what I was saying earlier, I said what I said previously still — VANDEHEI: What did you say previously? MCCLELLAN: You can go back and look at it. I’ll be glad to share with you the transcript when that question came up last time. VANDEHEI: So he does have full confidence? MCCLELLAN: I’ve already addressed that Jim. VANDEHEI: If you’ve already addressed that, why cant you repeat it for me? MCCLELLAN: Why do you keep asking a question I’ve already answered when — VANDEHEI: Because I don’t know the answer — MCCLELLAN: No, because you’re asking the question in the context of an ongoing investigation, and it’s really easy to go look at the transcripts and pull that information. VANDEHEI: That’s why I said set the leak aside. Just in general, are you refusing to say — MCCLELLAN: Yes, I stand by that answer. VANDEHEI: Number two, since you won’t answer that question — MCCLELLAN: I did answer that question. McClellan points out what we already know, that he previously said Bush had full confidence in Rove. What he won’t do is repeat it. That’s what’s significant. [Think Progress] 12:55:40 PM    comment []

Paul Krassner: Together Again. I've just returned from the first leg of my book tour. Countercultural highlight of the trip: In the lobby of a New York hotel, a group of teenagers were listening to their tour guide describe Greenwich Village, "where Allen Ginsberg and Dobie Gillis hung out." [The Huffington Post | Full Blog Feed] 12:50:08 PM    comment []

O'Reilly sued for sexual harassment. O'Reilly sued for sexual harassment [The Raw Story | A rational voice - Alternative news] 12:48:39 PM    comment []

Paul Rieckhoff: The President's Political Puppets. The movie Rocky 6 is now in the works. This film project is clearly a publicity stunt intended to boost Sylvester Stallone's slumping movie career. Yesterday, the White House manufactured an even greater publicity stunt with a live teleconference featuring 10 soldiers in Iraq. Clearly, the event was designed to bolster the President's sliding political career. You can view the video by clicking here This thing was not just staged, it was superstaged. In a disgusting display, the President again used our troops as political props in an event so scripted that it basically turned into a conversation with himself. I wish the White House had put this much effort into post-war planning when my platoon hit Baghdad. Not only were the teleconference troops told what to say by Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary Allison Barber, they were also prevented from speaking freely by the looming threat of their ground commanders. Undoubtedly there was a PAO (Public Affairs Officer - likely someone ranking Major or higher) standing directly off-camera making sure the soldiers spoke in line with White House directives. Every troop presented an upbeat view of the situation on the ground in Iraq. There was no talk of armor issues or mortars attacks. A token Iraqi soldier in the group at one point gushed to President Bush, "Thank you very much for everything. I like you!"? When I was an Infantry Platoon leader in Iraq, I was interviewed by CBS 60 Minutes. As the tape was rolling, my commanding officer stood behind the camera carefully listening to my every word with his arms crossed. I knew it wouldn't be fun for me if I strayed from the prescribed talking points. That incident was one of the motivating factors that led me to create Operation Truth--an organization that truly represents the candid voice of our troops and Veterans. The voices we heard today were neither candid nor representative. The makeup of this group at the teleconference was not an accurate reflection of our forces on the ground in Iraq. Let's look into the composition of the 10 troops who spoke with the President. 5 of the 10 were officers. 0 were black. In actuality, officers constitute 15% of the overall military. 20% of that force is black. No wonder the President's approval rating among African Americans is so low. This teleconference did not present the real voice of the troops. It was a shameful and misguided use of our military. The Commander in Chief has no right to use America's sons and daughters as a defibrillator for his ailing Presidency. [The Huffington Post | Full Blog Feed] 8:15:07 AM    comment []

Harry Shearer: The Sharks Read the Polls. A few days ago, I quoted a White House correspondent of long standing explaining why his amusing anecdotes about Ronald Reagan's, uh, oddities never reached the evening news: "We read the polls". Now comes the story of President Bush's videoconference with selected military officers being--wait for it!--staged. It's not surprising that it led this site today, but the attention this story is receiving in the wider newsiverse would suggest something...new. Yet anybody who's been paying attention knows that virtually every public, or semi-public event of this administration--every "town meeting", every "Presidential conversation", every meet and greet--every event where a camera and microphone have been, through the generosity of this admninistration, been allowed to be present, has been scripted and staged to the Nth (or, perhaps, in honor of Mike Deaver who invented all this, the Mth) degree. It's news, big news, making the evening news now for one reason, and that reason is called Under Forty Percent. [The Huffington Post | Full Blog Feed] 8:10:32 AM    comment []

Richard Bradley: The White House Attacks A Reporter. Want to know how White House press secretary Scott McClellan deals with tough questions about Iraq? By suggesting that the questionerâo[per thou]in this case, the curmudgeonly Helen Thomasâo[per thou]is soft on terror. Here's the excerpt (italics added) from yesterday's White House press briefing. <<[Helen Thomas]: What does the President mean by "total victory" -- that we will never leave Iraq until we have "total victory"? What does that mean? MR. McCLELLAN: Free and democratic Iraq in the heart of the Middle East, because a free and democratic Iraq in the heart of the Middle East will be a major blow to the ambitions -- Q If they ask us to leave, then we'll leave? MR. McCLELLAN: I'm trying to respond. A free and democratic Iraq in the heart of the broader Middle East will be a major blow to the ambitions of al Qaeda and their terrorist associates. They want to establish or impose their rule over the broader Middle East -- we saw that in the Zawahiri letter that was released earlier this week by the intelligence community. Q They also know we invaded Iraq. MR. McCLELLAN: Well, Helen, the President recognizes that we are engaged in a global war on terrorism. And when you're engaged in a war, it's not always pleasant, and it's certainly a last resort. But when you engage in a war, you take the fight to the enemy, you go on the offense. And that's exactly what we are doing. We are fighting them there so that we don't have to fight them here. September 11th taught us -- Q It has nothing to do with -- Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. MR. McCLELLAN: Well, you have a very different view of the war on terrorism, and I'm sure you're opposed to the broader war on terrorism. The President recognizes this requires a comprehensive strategy, and that this is a broad war, that it is not a law enforcement matter. Terry. Q On what basis do you say Helen is opposed to the broader war on terrorism? MR. McCLELLAN: Well, she certainly expressed her concerns about Afghanistan and Iraq and going into those two countries. I think I can go back and pull up her comments over the course of the past couple of years. Q And speak for her, which is odd. MR. McCLELLAN: No, I said she may be, because certainly if you look at her comments over the course of the past couple of years, she's expressed her concerns -- Q I'm opposed to preemptive war, unprovoked preemptive war. MR. McCLELLAN: -- she's expressed her concerns.>> A bizarre exchange. Clearly, Thomas' questions over the past couple of years have gone beyond the normal softball love-bombs lobbed by the White House press corps, and sometimes they're a little cranky. But to slide in a line like "I'm sure you're opposed to the broader war on terrorism"âo[per thou]that's pretty low. [The Huffington Post | Full Blog Feed] 7:59:51 AM    comment []

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