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Thursday, January 26, 2006 |
The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times also credit Greenwald, with the latter quoting an ACLU attorney who "accused the administration of 'remarkable duplicity' for having testified in public against the legal change while carrying it out in private." Plus: 'AG's memo' suggests Patriot Act is 'not needed for domestic spying.' [Cursor.org]
10:50:16 AM 
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When have we heard this before?. There has been a near total lack of cooperation that has made it impossible, in my opinion, for us to do the thorough investigation that we have the responsibility to do.
The Bush administration is stonewalling the Congress.
We have been trying--without success--to obtain Secretary Rumsfeld's cooperation for months.
Though these statements sound like statements made during the September 11 Commission's failed attempt to get the administration to cooperate with its investigation, they are, rather, statements recently made about the administration's failure to cooperate with two Congressional committees investigating the response to Hurricane Katrina.
As before, the White House is citing executive branch confidentiality in refusing to turn over requested documents. These documents include Katrina-related emails and other communications among White House staff members. The administration has also refused requests for testimony from White House chief of staff Andrew H. Carrd Jr., deputy chief of staff Joe Hagin, domestic security advisor Frances Fragos Townsend, and her deputy, Ken Rapuano.
Senator Susan Collins, says it is "completely inappropriate" that that witnesses "have told us when we begin to ask about any communications with the White House" that they cannot respond, even if the discussions are not related to specific advice given to the Bush that could "legitimately" be held back under executive privilege.
The White House, for its part--and we've heard this before, too--maintains that it is thoroughly cooperating with the investigation and has handed over thousands of documents, as well as providing multiple witnesses.
In the early morning hours of August 29, a memo was sent from the Department of Homeland Security to the White House situation room which warned of a possible breach of levees in New Orleans and a resulting crisis. A few days later, Bush said: "I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees." [MoJo Blog]
10:00:00 AM
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HUMAN RIGHTS -- IRAN AND THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION, UNITED IN ANTI-GAYBIGOTRY: "In a reversal of policy, the United States on Monday backed an Iranian initiative to deny United Nations consultative status to organizations working to protect the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people," according to a Human Rights Watch release. In May 2005, two international gay rights groups applied for consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council, "the only official means by which non-governmental organizations around the world can influence and participate in discussions among member states at the United Nations. Nearly 3,000 groups enjoy this status. States opposed to the two groups' applications moved to havethem summarily dismissed, an almost unprecedented move at the UN, where organizations are ordinarily allowed to state their cases." On Monday, the Bush administration joined Cameroon, China, Cuba, Iran, Pakistan, the Russian Federation, Senegal, Sudan, and Zimbabwe -- nations with some of the worst human rights recordsin the world -- in voting to reject the groups' applications.
9:19:53 AM
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THIS TRAGEDY JUST CONTINUES TO WORSEN.
THOUGH I MUST ADMIT, WERE I IN HIS SHOES I THINK I WOULD PREFER DEATH TO HAVING TO DEAL WITH THE LOSS OF THOSE CHILDREN.
SAD.
7 kids killed in crash; granddad dies upon hearing news. News of a crash in which seven children perished so upset their grandfather that he had a massive heart attack and died, the children's adoptive mother said. [CNN.com]
9:16:36 AM
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© Copyright 2006 Patricia Thurston.
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