BUSH: I hereby designate the Secretary of Agriculture to classify information originally as `Secret.''

http://frwebgate3.access...&WAISaction=retrieve

BUSH: I hereby designate the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to classify information originally as ``Secret.''

http://frwebgate4.access...&WAISaction=retrieve

Just want it noted that I have been in aforementioned "Bush Hater" category for those stated reasons since Day 1. I do so hate being right all the time.

Brad, I'm surprised that you hadn't seen the severity of this problem earlier. It's not really news, just new to the MSM.

When Bruce Fein says that Bush is "moving us towards an unlimited executive power" he is wrong in one regard: It has already happened, no further movement is required.

Perhaps the time has come for the alternative media to stop referring to Bush as "the President" and start using a more appropriate title. An unelected person overruling and ignoring US Congress and the Judiciary at his own will is nothing less than an american DICTATOR and should not be given credibility and support by being referred to as a president.

For variety, Bushs own terminology can be used, as in the sentence: "Bush is the Decider, he knows what is best".

These people stole two elections in a row. It was a carefully orchestrated plan requiring cooperation by computer hackers, other dirty tricksters, lawyers, Karl Rove's "political consulting" team, local politicians in battleground states, and a Supreme Court whose leading conservative announced to the press what the final vote would be before arguments had even been heard in 2001.

Why would anyone be surprised that a gang of thugs like that would impose totalitarian methods on the country once in office?

Impeachment is the only Constitutional remedy, and if Bush has ignored even one law, let alone 750, that should be enough. Until he can be sent home to Crawford, I believe the best way to protest is to boycott every commercial product made by a company friendly to Bush. "BUY BLUE"
is one organization I've contributed to that does an excellent job of identifying companies to avoid.

My use of the term "republican dictatorship" followed a long time use of the term "neoCon" as bloggers here know.

I was always making the allegation that the republican party had been taken over by neoCons. I did that for a couple of years and until several months ago.

I then began (after I realized the republican party was not going to do anything about being taken over by neoCons) to use the term republican dictatorship.

I used that term after I realized that we need to abandon some of the older, static, definitions of the term dictatorship. And how it forms.

A dictatorship exists anytime the people's will is purposely thwarted, and the government can make laws and do things contrary to the will of the people, and the people can do nothing about it thru their election process.

And lets get clear that the ascendancy of any dictatorship over the will of the people will not have the same pattern of behavior in all instances where it manifests. One way in one country, another way in a different country.

We can expect a different pattern for a dictatorship to arise in America than what would appear in the rise of dictatorship in Iraq or Iran for example.

The reason is that there are different social and political structures in different types of countries which cannot be overtaken in exactly the same manner.

In the US the pattern is to take over where there is no resistance, or insufficient resistance.

The congress has been ready for take over since the mid 1800's when the majority party system was set up.

The majority party system is the HIV of political disease, and is foreign to the distribution or sharing of power by those elected to office. It is the anti-thesis of how Americans handle power of government. We split it up to dilute the toxins in power because "power corrupts". The deliberate concentration of power is unAmerican as is the republican dictatorship.

The majority party is now the dictator in the congress, all power being concentrated in the majority party. A very strange pattern.

American voters have sensed that over the years and have tended to put a president in power who was not of the majority party in congress.

This diluted power enough that a majority party did not usually rule everything.

But that changed recently in '00, '02, and '04. Add hazardous electronic voting machines and incompetent and/or silent election officials to the mix, and the scene is set for a political disaster.

Now that we have a republican dictatorship the only clear political change we have close at hand is to give the majority to the dems and cut the power in half or more. In November. Then clean house in '07 and '08.

However, as I have been ranting lately, gerrymandering and The Silence of the Goats (election officials) may thwart that and we may have a republican dictatorship for the duration.

Do NOT fool yourselves. It has happened and will continue to happen absent a revulsion of the republican dictatorship.

It has happened, Dredd. But Democrats have allowed to happen. They haven't represented us, either.

1) They allowed the G.O.P. to steal two presidential elections with barely a whimper.

2) They use the same methods as the G.O.P. A bit less ruthlessly, maybe, but their reliance on money, their willingness to let Congressional ethics oversight vanish, and their friendliness with lobbyists and Washington power brokers is similar.

3) Democrats play "good cop" when they should be playing "bad cop." They don't call out Bush on lies consistently. They've never publicly demanded to know what Cheney and the oil companies agreed on in 2001; we're entitled to know, and since Cheney will never tell us, it's the Democrats' responsibility to find out for us. They could if they wanted to.

4) Democrats allow the media to focus on 2008, as if each presidential election is like the next Olympics or Super Bowl. I don't give a flying f---k who their candidate will be in 2008, because until they acknowledge election fraud in 2000 and 2004 there's no way to prevent it from happening again. It will be like a Ferdinand Marcos election.

This is 100% the Republicans' fault. The only way a president can become a serial lawbreaker, is if the Congress has a majority in the same party as the president, and that Congress lets the president continually break the law.

This is 100% the Republicans' fault. And, between this and e-vote fraud, it will take the Republicans decades to undo the damage to their party. It's their own fault. They are standing by, letting Bush break the law, and take away their own Congressional powers.

The party that can control Bush's lawbreaking, the Republican Congress, is letting a dictatorship take place.

By saying it's 100% Republicans' fault, I am still ashamed at the Dems for such things as the obvious e-vote fraud, their collective silence.

And their general silence on our country becoming a dictatorship.

BUT...the Republicans can legally do something about it, being the majority, albeit they stole the majority on e-vote machines...and they will do it again in 2006 elections.

Is it any wonder, a party that steals elections, would condone a dictatorship? Is that a surprise? If they stole elections, did you think they wanted to steal political power for good? They wanted to steal elections for the good of the people?

Unfortunately, this administration is in the habit of wholesale power grabbing whereby they change the rules first and then present the argument to provide the authority for the already existing outcome. When opponents of this administration assert that this backdoor approach is a pattern and practice, in light of numerous examples, it becomes increasingly difficult to ignore their argument. With this constant chiseling away at the delicate yet deliberate balance intended by the founders of our governmental system, one is left in doubt as to either the degree of Constitutional understanding or its disregard driven by the desire to dictate predetermined deviations.

The rationale for any necessary expansion of executive authority is undermined by the means by which this administration proceeds to obtain it. Such practice has the potential to make all future exchanges between the Congress and the President rife with skepticism. For these reasons, this is a failed policy strategy wholly entrenched in the Bush style of act first, defend vigorously, discuss when forced, and lastly compromise and co-opt the solution when defeated.

For a President who fashioned himself as a protégé of Ronald Reagan, he has ironically become the purveyor of policies that Ronald Reagan characterized as requiring a strategy of ‘trust but verify’. Sadly, the cold war that pitted America against the Soviet Union has been replaced by an increasingly divisive internal cold war. History will ultimately determine if the America envisioned by our forefathers prevailed.

read more observations here:

www.thoughttheater.com

"...his interpretation of the Constitution"?? (from the article) What an obscene way of putting it. Let's not dignify treason. What do you call being an enemy of the Constitution?

Heh, I decide to dig up the text of the 1933 Enabling Act (that's Nazi Germany for the troll lurkers). Wikipedia has a nice write-up

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enabling_Act

Hoo boy, don't that sound like BushSpeak?

Even putting aside all of the OTHER violations of constitutional law - doesn't this fall under the qualifying phrase "other high crimes and misdemeanors" re: impeachment?

My understanding of that phrase is that it covers "political crimes" - and if I remember right, from the impeachment of Bill Clinton, and the PLANNED impeachment of Richard Nixon, the House Judiciary Committee concluded that "violation of public trust" (pick a lie, any lie) and "abuse of power" (insert examples of your choice here) DEFINITELY fell under that catagory.

So can we PLEASE hire someone to give him a blowjob so we can finally impeach his treasonous tyrannical ass?

*sigh*

Reading through all the "decider moves" was making me ill (and angry).. I had to stop 1/2 way through.

So, the pResident get's to tell Congress it has no power over him? Who does then?

I hope all the shilling trolls FINALLY wake up and see that Shrubby isn't about "Republicans" or "family values", but about absolute power and establishing his Dictatorship. There can be no question as to his (Administration's) intent..

As citizens of a Free country, peoples in a system of Democracy, we need to stand up to this henious affront to the Constitution.. and we need to do it now.. and we ALL need to do it.

Combine this blog item with this article and you have a pretty scary storm brewing.

Not only does the Chimp feel he's above the law and Constitution, but they are not telling the public about a LOT of things they are doing. The most secretive Admin in history, combined with the stated opinion of "we don't need your stinkin laws!" is a terrible thing. Can't the trolls see that?

Perhaps it IS a mental disorder afflicting 30% of our population.. perhaps it's pollution induced retardation? Good thing Shrubby is trying to lift all the environmental protections designed to save human (and other) life, eh? Build a stronger support base!

Ultimately, Amerika has become a dictatorship under the control of the New World Order syndicate of major world bankers and multinational corporations. W is just an intellectually-challenged but well-connected front man. This is the culmination of more than 100 years of behind-the-scenes planning. Welcome to the new feudalism, everyone. And only those serfs who are physically robust and psychologically compliant are valuable to the overlords, so our planned obsolescence is being hastened by the breakdown of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

If wholesale rebellion doesn't take place - and SOON - the entire planet is going to become uninhabitable, let alone hospitable to free-thinking, intelligent life. Nuclear warfare MUST BE PREVENTED!!!

You people are so ridiculous.

So whats gonna happen in 2009? Is he going to refuse to leave? LMAO(not with you, directly at you).

Damn.
Whadawe do? How do we help ourselves? How do we avoid infighting among ourselves, yet still have thoughtful discussion? The Pubs do the total loyalty thing so well that they have taken over our country.
We Dem, Green, Lib, (non-Pubs) folks who are able to think for ourselves, and who take the time to do it are constantly overrun by their pure raw power. We spend so much time whining and complaining and discussing how to LEGALLY fight the power while the Pubs are busy trashing more of our rights; usually the ones that are most poorly defended. We never know where they'll attack us next, we only know it'll be some kinda sucker-punch, not a straight up fair fight, using values, morals and reason.
Continuing the fight analogy, it appears that the Dems may be trying the old Mohammed Ali "rope a dope" strategy; allowing the enemy to punch himself out. Stay outta the way of all the attacks and allow them to tire. Or, in other words, let them screw up so much that they'll have nothing left to fight with.
Unfortunately, this fight has been fixed for a long time. Even Mohammed Ali couldn't win if the ref and fight judges were planning for Foreman to win.
Or could he?
We gotta be Ali. Summon the courage and strength to win even when it appears we are beaten. Even when it appears we have all the powers against us.
The fans - the people - will be with us. We have to hold on and weather the ferocity of their continued attacks no matter what.
Who did Ali call upon? Allah?
hmmmm...
My sportswriter side sometimes comes out...
Fight on patriots, fight on.

peace out,
shw

Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman have a new essay up at "The Free Press" which further explores this new neo-con totalitarianism.

Eric said:

Perhaps the time has come for the alternative media to stop referring to Bush as "the President" and start using a more appropriate title.

Just for the record, Eric. I don't refer to him as President, but rather George W. Bush (when in a kind mood) or, if needed, "President" Bush.

Ricky -

No clue what will happen by 2009. But why is it that you don't care about your Constitution, your country, and the Rule of Law at all in the meantime?

How can it be that you are still so uninformed? Or do you simply hate everything that America stands for and has been built upon for 250 years?

Kes --- In the articles of impeachment drawn up against Nixon, each was introduced by "...in violation of his constitutional oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in disregard of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed...

Bush has egregiously and blatantly violated his oath of office. Any competent impeachment proceedings will be rock solid and Congress is guilty of dereliction of duty hour-by-hour in not starting the process. That is the underlying fact, no matter what anyone says about the current "political climate" and so on.

Meanwhile, the rights of citizens and Constitutional protections are falling by the wayside. As a citizen, I believe I have a clear responsibility to insist on impeachment - It's not a choice or a matter of waiting until better circumstances arise.

It is vitally important to encourage, participate in, and advance the impeachment movement now in a big way - locally and nationally - because we are United States citizens, and, to be blunt, the effort to vitiate and discard the Constitution is happening as we speak and must be crippled until we can put the checks and balances back into place.

RLM #8 and Big Dan #9

I have to totally disagree with RLM and totally agree with Big Dan.

I know some do not get it because they will not, have not, and refuse to let the fact of the structure of congress come into the equation.

They think that the minority party in congress has substantial power. That is bullshit plain and simple.

I defy you to show me how the democrats in congress can, over the objection and will of the republican majority, pass one bill, activate one committee democratic chair, hold one official hearing, subpoena one witness, or cast the majority vote on any committee, or on any legislation after a committee has released it to the floor. You can't because it can't happen.

And even if you were the most respected Independent, Green, Libertarian, or your most holy favored person of your most holy favored party, neither could they change reality.

The reality is based upon the legal structure of the rules of congress. No more no less.

Deal with reality and come up with a real dialogue, rhetoric, and strategy that will stop the republican dictatorship, because at the moment for those of us who are not in imaginary heaven, that is all we have hope of.

And that hope is tenuous. So we are sure as hell not going to go for more pie in the sky bullshit as you who exalt imagination beyond the pale fiddle while this fascism comes down.

Show me how you would change the major problems without taking the majority party republican dictatorship out and I will go for it.

Otherwise you are not being coherent, you are only being loud. Heat but no light.

Arry #22

Your words indicate that you are on top of it. So tell me, which congress member would you approach if you were to bring the Articles of Impeachment to congress? (or how would any congress member do it?)

And which committee has jurisdiction of that issue? And who is the chairperson of that committee, and how many votes does each party of that committee have on that committee?

And how would the votes go?

And if you are successful in all that, what is the first thing you want Dick Cheney as president to do? And do you think he will be eager to do it?

#24....When Feingold wanted to censure, Pelosi said '"Let's wait and investigate." This imposter for a Prez. brags about breaking the law. If he were a poor man, he probably wouldn't need a trial. Two Americas. Nobody in Washington is going to move because they know the criminals in the WH might just bump 'em off for their efforts. Bush has to screw up really big like being drunk in public. I think this is a possibility.

Group files criminal complaint against Rep. Katherine Harris

I have already sent the articles of impeachment to my Rep jay Inslee (WA 1st district). You can follow this link to get your own copy, and for $4.95 the publisher will send one to your representative!

http://mhpbooks.com/aoi.html

Sorry, meant to include that those above articles were written by the Center For Constitutional Rights.

Dredd --- You are misunderstanding me. Please give me a little more credit for political understanding.

I do not believe impeachment is possible in the current Congress. That does not negate my statement that " Any competent impeachment proceedings will be rock solid and Congress is guilty of dereliction of duty hour-by-hour in not starting the process. That is the underlying fact, no matter what anyone says about the current "political climate" and so on.. Please take the statement as is, not interpreted through whatever points you are trying to make.

You missed my main point. It is that a popular movement toward impeachment, if powerful enough, will act as a "check" when the Constitutional "checks" are being discarded and until they can be replaced. You may not agree with this, but at least try to understand the point and argue on its merits or errors.

Beyond that, my own impeachment organization is calling for the impeachment of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Gonzales on very good grounds. But, even so, Bush is the one who overriding laws with "signing statements" and so on. Bush authorized illegal wiretaps. And on and on. I stick with my statement that as citizens we have a responsibility to insist on the impeachment of Bush.

I can't answer your questions because they have nothing to do with what I'm talking about.

Bush has an insidious, power-hungry, dangerous syndicate behind him (Bush is just not smart enough to instigate all of this chicanery). They are pushing this to see how far The American People will let them go with this - it's known as "The Enemy Within" - no less than Dwight D. Eisenhower forewarned us of these very dangers occurring someday.

I saw an example the other day: A headline that read, "Bush To Probe Reasons for High Gas Prices" - that's like having Hitler do a probe of The Holocaust.

This sentiment was bolstered, days later, by another headline: "Bush Nixes Tax On Record Oil Company Profits" - like he had a damn choice!

I've never seen one good reason why anyone less than a multi-millionaire would support this neo-Fascist group.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
**'Expose Tom Feeney'**
"SUPPORT CLINT CURTIS!"
__www.clintcurtis.com__
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Off topic: (Please forgive me) call your Senators immediately on drilling in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge. Senators to decide the fate of the refuge as early as Tuesday!!! These big oil men (and or men who represent the oil barron elites) plan to reduce higher gas prices is drilling in the Arctic and $100 dollar rebate. This as usual is the wrong headed move of the Bushit administration. Go to read about what famous informed actor Robert Redford says as well as environmental scientists at: nrdcactionfund.org
Thank you

OT also: check this out - Christopher Walken 4 Prez 2008

http://www.walken2008.com/index.html

If my memory serves me correctly, Bush ignored the "succession" provisions of the Constitution.

Didn't he sign some order stating that rather than the Veep and then the Speaker of the House succeeding him, that the Secretary of Defense and other Pentagon officials would be his successors?

I would like to address a fantasy situation because it is heard so often that it should be analyzed.

Say that all of the sudden the Congress was gassed with integrity gas and said, "Whoa, we have to impeach the "president." So, they impeach the president. His many transgressions are stated clearly in the process of the investigation and his trial in the Senate. He's out of there. So, Cheney is now "president". (Of course, he was never really Vice-President, either...hence the quotation marks.) Does anyone think he could then proceed to do the same damn things? (Most likely, he would be forced to resign after the impeachment proceedings anyway when they dig up all the stuff.) No, he would be seriously handicapped.

Impeachment of Bush is a "Good Thing"-- period.

No. Cheney needs to go first. No ifs ands or buts about it.

Sort of OT:

Brad, sorry if it came off like I was somehow attacking you in my previous post. I was in a bad mood and reading about the Deciders list of crimes didn't make it any better.

My comment about the alternative media and Bushs title was not directed at you, but rather the public and the alternative media in general. I have for example noticed that some of the guest-bloggers on bradblog.com are still using the phrase 'President' when referring to Dictator Bush.

My point was also that even people who see him as an illegitimate and authoritative ruler usually refrain from calling him a dictator, even though it would be a great victory if such a wording became more publicly visible and accepted in the alternative and (perhaps as a result of that, also in the) mainstream discourse.

And even more off topic, thank you Brad for an amazing blog, it's my number one, daily, source of news and commentary on the state of american democracy.

Big Dan, comment #9

The pro-war Dead Democratic Party is equally at fault here. It's time that some people realize that and take responsiblity for the Dems enabling of Bush and the Repugs. Regardless of what commitees the Dems don't have or heads of committees the Dems don't have in Congress, the fact is that they ALL still have the right to vote on every single piece of legislation, just like the Repugs. Period. Since 2000, the Dems have voted YES on MOST of what Bush and the Repugs have asked for. That's why were are where we are today. The Dems have given Bush two wars, the USAPATRIOT Act, inJustices Alito and Roberts and I could go on and on and on of what they have enabled Dictator Bush to have.

The Dems could have voted NO in a unified block ON EVERY SINGLE THING since 2000 but they refused to. Since 2000, I have been saying that we have a one-party system US Congress of political corporate pimps and whores. I have absolutely no respect or regard for most of them and I would very gladly tell them that to their face because I can't stand most of them. I have no respect for these scum of the earth people who have helped Bush and the Repugs destroy this country and our Constitution/Bill of Rights. The Dems have enabled the country to get to where it is today. Period.

Stop the tow the party line crap about the damn Dems. They have been complicit and enablers with the Repugs. Take responsibility for that. Own it. I'm sick of them. And Nancy Pelosi a few months ago outright dismissed calls for impeachment hearings at a meeting here in San Francisco. She said she wants the November so-called "election" to be the referendum on Bush. Good god, woman! The woman is either an idiot or in denial if she is under the illusion that we are going to have a fair and legitimate election in November with the approaching e-voting train wreck.

In my opinion, the pro-war Dead Democratic Party is quite comfortable being in the minority. They get paid all the same with full health care coverage whether they are in the majority or the minority. And many of them (most?) are just as corrupt as the Repugs. Just One example:

Iraq war-profiteer Dianne Feinstein. This millionaire woman and her billionaire husband are making millions from Iraq contracts through his company, Perini. Although recently she has claimed that Bush "misled" her on the reasons for attacking Iraq. Yeah, he "misled" you all right, you corporate pimp and whore. You're up for re-election and you're just trying to cover your ass. The damn Liar.

This is 100% the Republicans' fault. The only way a president can become a serial lawbreaker, is if the Congress has a majority in the same party as the president, and that Congress lets the president continually break the law.

This is 100% the Republicans' fault. And, between this and e-vote fraud, it will take the Republicans decades to undo the damage to their party. It's their own fault. They are standing by, letting Bush break the law, and take away their own Congressional powers.

The last 2 paragraphs of my post (above) are Big Dan's comments that I was responding to.

Hello Brad, regarding your comment #21.

THANK YOU! Couldn't agree with you more.

I have not and never will refer to Bush as "president." (It makes me cringe whenever I hear it or read it). By doing so, makes him legitimate and he is not. He is a Fraud.

As for 2009, I don't think Dictator Bush is going anywhere. And I say that because the Bush Crime Family would not be slowly putting a dictatorship in place if he were planning to leave in 2009. Mike Malloy of Air America has said that he expects the country to be in martial law before the end of the year.

Frankly, I'm expecting another staged 911 (as is Malloy) and wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see this piece of trash Bush declare martial law (and the one-party system Congress will go right along with it!) and then state that because "we're at war," and for "national security" reasons he (Bush) won't be leaving because HE doesn't feel it's good for the country to have a change of White House residents at this time.

I put absolutely nothing past these evil people. Nothing. They will do whatever they need to do to stay in power at all costs.

Soul Rebel #31

Interesting, but unfortunatly Snopes has another view. As I recall this was also going around in 2004.

Here's another case where the constitution doesn't apply to GW:

Professor Jones of BYU

Anyone who thinks that stealing an election and lying us into a war, can't do something like this, should just go to RushLimbaugh.com .

There's more...

Chicago Tribune: Cheney exempts his own office from reporting on classified material

Oh, the irony...

Dkos: Lawbreaker-in-Chief Declares Law Day

From the White House: Law Day, U.S.A., May 1, 2006
A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America

America's legal system is central to protecting the constitutional principles on which our Nation was founded. As we observe Law Day, we celebrate our heritage of freedom, justice, and equality under the law....

oops, busted link

Dkos: Lawbreaker-in-Chief Declares Law Day

Josh #37

Very scarey stuff there! It's hard to believe that it could happen, but it sure looks like they are trying to lay the ground work.

This whole immigration thing is another one of their distractions, IMHO, designed to keep our minds off the war and the voting machines.

I saw an article recently, since all this started, which said that a month or two ago immigration didn't even register in surveys about problems in our country and now it is the number two issue.

"Keep the public very afraid and they will follow you anywhere!" -Bushco

sans-culotte

"America's legal system is central to protecting the constitutional principles on which our Nation was founded. As we observe Law Day, we celebrate our heritage of freedom, justice, and equality under the law...."

Did Stephen Colbert write that?

Robots in Congress are 1 party known as the REPUBLIDEM PARTY. They allow this total BUSHIT to continue.

I loved when Michael Moore called him "Governor Bush" (the last legitimate title he held).

Sometimes I think the best chance we have is to call the Republicans honor and intelligence into question as often as possible (I do that when I call Orrin's office (I'm sure they love it!)). I always tell people that when I'm carrying my Impeach Bush sign, "the Republicans got us into this and they have to get us out!", but the fact is that Republicans don't like to debate. They just like to drive fast and yell things, THEY ARE COWARDS-ALL OF THEM, trust me!

That's why they only attack groups of people that are weak and have no power, (democrats, potheads, environmentalists, protesters, homeless, Iraq). Gee didn't I just name all the groups Hannity and Limbaugh point to. That's why they would never dare attack (religion, government, corporations or China!)

I LOVE RLM's good cop/bad cop analogy of the democrats, (don't worry, I'm on your side).

Larry, regarding your comment #45

With all due respect, let's be objective here and not partisan. I can't stand the Repugs anymore than you can. But I can't stand most of the Dems either!

Which groups would you expect the Repugs to attack? I would expect them to attack the very groups that they do attack. The Repugs behave exactly as I have come to expect them to behave. The Repugs produce what I expect them to produce (lies, cheap, steal, corruption and blame).

By contrast, the pro-war Dead Democratic Party does NOT produce what I would expect from them. For example, I would have expected them to stand up to the Repugs during the 2000 presidential "election,"
the 2002 "election" and the 2004 "election." All were stolen. Did the Dems stand up? NO. They ran for the closest rock and hid under it. They willingly gave their power to the Repugs in 2000. THEY are to blame for their own demise when one is being objective about this.

And if the Dems wanted to show their progressive side (assuming they have one), who stopped them from voting NO on Roberts and Alito? Who stopped them from voting NO on the USAPatriot Act? And why are they being so silent on TortureGate? And who stopped them from voting NO on Bush's attack on Iraq and Afghanistan? And why are they beating the drums to attack Iran, for god's sake? They have given their power to Bush and the Repugs over and over again by voting YES for Bush and YES for the Repugs repeatedly since 2000. The objective person will say just that. The pro-war Dead Democratic Party is worthless when the truth be told.

We need a SECOND party. That's what we need.

Yeah, you're right!

When the democrats said they were "saving for the big fight" and handed the court to Alito, it was a defining moment.

Josh #37,
I agree. martial law is on the way, having been preceded by another 9-11 style attack. I have been making these predictions to those I "trust" for at least 6 mos. Mike Malloy is great. He's in town in June, already have my tix.

BB2: Damn I should check snopes more often. I never check that out. But I thought it was funny. Hell, why not an actor - we've had a clown for five years.

Molly #25 and Arry #29

Feingold is a senator, Pelosi is a representative. They are from two different parts of congress, one the Senate, the latter the House.

In either part of the congress, however, the procedure is the same. A congress person drafts proposed legislation, gives it to the leader of that body, then it is analyzed for jurisdiction.

The chairperson of the committee having jurisdiction is then given the proposed legislation. That chairman can then do with it as s/he pleases. It can be tabled, scheduled, etc. at the discretion of the chairman.

Currently each and every committee in both the House and the Senate are chaired by republicans. And republicans have the majority vote on each and every committee.

Democrats have zero chairmanships and zero majority votes on any committee in either the Senate or the House.

The reason Feingold's proposed censure of the prez got action was because Spectre, chair of the committee, conferred with the majority vote members (all republicans), and they decided that they could get more political hay out of it than the democrats could.

It had nothing to do with who has the power in congress. Clearly the republican dictatorship has the power.

Talking about censure or impeachment in this republican dictatorship is fondling illusion. We will have a balanced budget and "win the war" in Iraq and Iran before that happens.

Greater hope lies in taking back one or both houses of congress in November. Don't waste precious energy on illusion.

Josh #36, #46

The last two paragraphs of your post were the only accurate parts of your post. You don't even know most dems or their names. Not even congress members. You are frustrated and your tactical logic is suffering accordingly. That is now the republican dictatorship stays in power. Enabling logic of the out-of-touch sort.

CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES TODAY!

I beg you all to DO SOMETHING!
Once President AssHole initiates martial law, or invades Iran & begins the draft--it will be too late!
Have you EVER called your Senators?
Have you EVER called the White House?
DO IT. TODAY.
(The operator at the phone number will give you your own representatives numbers.)
If you can't CALL-- then write!
Writing is good.
It is your fault & mine that things have gotten out of hand like this.
It's our duty to stop it. Don't kid yourself.
DO IT.

Office of the President & Vice President
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Washington, DC. 20500
(202) 456-1414
www.whitehouse.gov

U.S. House of Representatives
(Representative's Name)
House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 224-3121
www.house.gov

U.S.Senate
(Senator's Name)
Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-3121
www.senate.gov

If you are in Illinois--I have our 2 Senators phone numbers here:
Durbin (202) 224-2152
Obama (202) 224-2854

Like Griz tried to tell you above; today our chicken-shit-do-nothing Congress if voting on whether or not to pass the Dictator's "Gas Price Relief & Rebate Act": Tell them No! And HELL NO!!!
Here's why:
We cannot trade the Arctic Refuge for $100 or be fooled by policies that do nothing to solve real problems of dependence on oil.
Instead we need to cut oil comsumption by improving mileage on vehicles & promoting clean & renewable energy!
Here's the deal: The Energy Department says that drilling in the Arctic Refuge would save consumers only ONE PENNY a gallon at the pump IN 20 YEARS!
Meanwhile, anyone who drives will be forced to take the Senator's $100 rebate check--PAID FOR WITH OUR TAXPAYERS' DOLLARS---& then SIGN IT OVER to ExonMobile for their next 2 tanks of gas!!
Any oil company would LOVE a bill that picks the taxpayers' wallets for $12 billion in gas money!It's nothing but a rip. The Gas Price Relief & Rebate Act should really be called the "Guaranteed Profits for Big Oil Act".
Remember, these are the same Senators who passed a pro-polluter energy bill last summer that refused to make America's gas-guzzlers more fuel efficient, but instead, doled out billions of tax dollars to oil & coal companies. This latest bill is just more of the same corporate welfare!
Tell them you're hot about it & goddamnit NO!
Then insist on impeachment for that filthy war criminal Bush.

I, too, see martial law coming...possibly before the November elections, but most certainly before the 2008 elections.

But I wonder now if it will come as a response to another "Pearl Harbor", or an avian flu outbreak.

Homeland Security Contracts for Vast New Detention Camps

This message came to me from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, headed by Robert Redford.

These dishonest oil companies with Bush & Cheney's help, try every 3 months or so to get their hands on this pristine refuge & DRILL IT by slipping this through Congress!
They figure if they keep trying, eventually they will get it.
They do not need to drill in a refuge for more oil.
The price of gas is not high because they don't have enough oil--it's high because they only allow so much oil to be let loose on the market in order to keep the price up. War & unrest give them an excuse.
Big oil figures if we go to alternative fuels, they'll loose $. That's why Bush has not proposed legislation encouraging alternative fuels--he has made nothing but token moves in that direction--nothing that would hurt his oil interests.

George W. Bush seems to have "decided" that he is not, as the Constitution established, the Civilian Chief of our Armed Forces, but rather a novel sort of Enlisted Military "Commander in Chief" of our Armed Forces.

Thus, Bush has "decided" he answers only to himself as 'top dog' in the military "chain of command" and the critical CIVILIAN Executive Branch control of our military, so carefully and wisely created in and by our Constitution, has ceased to exist.

Dread, regarding your comment #49,

You wrote:

"Democrats have zero chairmanships and zero majority votes on any committee in either the Senate or the House."

That's true, but not that it would change ANYTHING if they did have that based on their Bush Enabling since 2000. STOP making excuses for these worthless corporate political pimps and whores who still have the gall to call themself a "Democrat."

The Dems STILL have mouths. Most of the time they speak FOR Bush, if they speak at all. No one has taped them shut. They still have the ability to scream throughout the halls of Congress each and every day vigilantly if they were doing their job as a real. true OPPOSITION party. But they don't do that either. They have the right to vote. They have the right to vote as members of Congress just like the Repugs. And since 2000 they have voted FOR Bush and FOR the Repugs most of the time. Period. That is a fact. They have helped to give Bush and the Repugs much of what they have wanted. They are indefensible, even though I'm sure you will try to drag up some way to try your best to defend them at all cost. They have sold us all out. Many of us realize that. When will YOU?

(Nah, that ain't going to happen. That's as wishful thinking as some people chanting that the Dems will take back the Congress in 2006!)

And regarding your patronizing comment about what I supposedly don't know (according to you), I know the Dems' names just as you do. They're easy to find. You're not the only one privy to them, Mr Arrogant. I follow their voting record just as you may. It's just that I don't live in DENIAL like you prefer to do about this pro-war dead party of Bush Enablers and Accomplices. I see them for who and what they are. Miserable failures of their OWN doing. They are responsible for their own demise. When will YOU realize that too?

Kestrelbrighteyes #51 - There are two things that are just too evil to think about:

1. Depleated uranium.
2. Civilian Inmate Labor Programs (prison camps).

But we must!
Thank You!

Folks:

Congressman Dana Rohrabacher even floated the balloon on Real Time with Bill Maher three weeks ago when he said "The millions of young men who are prisoners throughout our country can pick the fruits and vegatables. I say, let the prisoners pick the fruits". We don’t need no stinking minimum wage!

David Brooks of the PBS Newshour gave this astonishing quote (word for word) concerning the immigration bill which is causing some of the largest protests America has ever seen:

"Mr. Sensenbrenner is very intelligent, responsible man, but you got a lot of people on his side of the debate which are just enraged, unwilling to talk reasonably. I was up at a press conference this week where a house republican said "you know we gotta have some people to pick lettuce. We're not gonna have immigrants. Let's have the prisoners do it!". You want to hit the guy on the head with a baseball bat. We're going to take a largely minority population, forced labor, picking lettuce and cotton. Is this ringing any bells here!"

WOW. David, I’ve had my doubts about you from time to time, but that took some BALLS! Thank you David Brooks!

When you stop to think about it, this is extremely clever. I’ll bet even the prisoners would like to get out of the TORTUROUS BOREDOM of prison. And you know the (if you’re not doing anything wrong, you don’t have anything to worry about) Americans would love to see those criminals, who are enjoying themselves, sitting around playing video games, get out and work for a change like they do. Why should you worry your beautiful minds concerning the Mexicans, blacks, potheads ect...

I can just hear Hannity saying that, now the potheads will get to do what they’ve always wanted to do, go out and plant trees!

I realize the fact that Marijuana laws in most of the country have not been as harsh as some wanted them to be today (zero tolerance, mandatory minimum), but we can no longer hide from the fact that there are some very evil people in government who will do premptive strikes on anyone they consider to be a threat or even have a different political view from theirs. Marijuana, laws have ALWAYS been so far out of proportion to reason, that they expose an ulterior motive and can be used as a litmus test of our lost freedoms. That’s also why it hasn’t been seriously debated since the “drug wars” started. It’s a loser for the proponents, and they know it!

Police officers, whom I admire greatly, have been accustomed to arresting people who are of no danger to anybody including themselves for so long that, there is no memory of a time when we didn’t do that. By now, we should be saying “Not your grandfathers pot”, to invoke an often used scare tactic. I have a recording of Art Linkletter saying “It’s not your fathers Marijuana any more”on Tom Snyder’s Tomorrow show from the mid to late 70's.

I’ve often wondered why president Clinton didn’t reign in Gen. Barry McCaffrey who seemed to have an unnatural fear of marijuana and relentlessly escalated the incarceration of entire populations of otherwise innocent people. Call me crazy, but I actually think Clinton didn’t like pot. At least half of the people who smoke it don’t. Sometimes it causes anxiety. That’s why I personally think it is much less dangerous then almost all other prescription or non-prescription drugs. It doesn’t always make you happy. Yes, it’s true, I actually think “Clinton didn’t inhale” when he was at parties, and was pretending to smoke marijuana! If I’m right, he didn’t lie!

Along with his sensationalized pardons upon leaving office, Clinton did pardon Kemba Smith, a first-time offender who, at age 19, had been sentenced to 24 years in federal prison for cooperating with her drug-dealing boyfriend, even though the prosecutor admitted that Smith had never used or sold drugs.

Whatever the reason for his looking the other way on this issue during his term in office, I doubt the “bridge to the 21st century” which Clinton and Gore talked about included white, or any other kind of slavery.

I say:
Let Mr. Sensenbrenner and Mr. Rohrabacher pick the fruit! Perhaps we can figure out some way to criminalize THEM.

Sen. Byrd rips line-item veto proposal

"An earlier, stronger version of the line-item veto passed in 1996 under the new Republican majority in Congress, but the Supreme Court declared the law unconstitutional two years later because it allowed the president to single-handedly change laws passed by Congress."

- Isn't he already doing this? Where are the Supremes now?

Hello Bluebear 2

Regarding your comment #56

So Byrd opposes Bush-Enabler John "Bush-Lite" Kerry's proposal. Pro-war Kerry (who also voted FOR both wars) wants Dictator Bush to have the line-item veto. Kerry is so damn naive that he thinks Bush would only use it for "wasteful spending." Yeah. Uh huh. Get a clue, John Kerry.

This was reported back on March 6, 2006:
Kerry to introduce line-item veto bill
http://rawstory.com/news...item_veto_bill_0306.html

heres a copy of an email from senator mike dewine of ohio defending this behavior.
May 2, 2006

Dear Stephan:

Thank you for contacting me.

As you know, following the attacks of September 11, 2001, President George
W. Bush authorized the National Security Agency (NSA) to begin monitoring
international phone calls in which one party is in the United States and
one party is a member, or suspected member, of a terrorist organization.
In a time of national emergency, I expect the President to take such
actions to protect our Nation, even if those actions are not specifically
authorized by statute. Public and congressional awareness of the program
now has caused a great deal of debate and has sparked a series of hearings
in the Senate Judiciary Committee and briefings in the Senate Intelligence
Committee. I am a member of both committees and have participated fully in
these hearings and briefings.

There are legal and constitutional questions about whether the President
must, after a period of time, come to Congress for statutory authorization
of the NSA program. Certainly the country and the President would be
stronger with such authorization. I believe that statutory authorization
and Congressional oversight for this program would avoid a divisive debate
in Congress and throughout our Nation. Accordingly, I have written
legislation which would authorize the surveillance of terrorist
communication, but also would help ensure substantial Congressional
oversight and judicial review.

Under my legislation --- the Terrorist Surveillance Act of 2006 (S.2455) --
the President would need to reauthorize the electronic surveillance
program every 45 days. Also, after no more than 45 days in each
individual wiretapping case, he must decide whether to terminate the
surveillance, refer it to the FISA Court for a warrant, or direct the
Attorney General to justify its continuation to new Congressional
subcommittees. The new subcommittees, which would be within the House and
Senate Intelligence Committees, are dedicated exclusively to providing
oversight of the NSA program. To enable further vigorous oversight, the
subcommittees would be equipped with a professional staff responsible for
monitoring the program and reviewing the individual surveillance cases.
Also, my bill would require the President to go to the FISA court for a
warrant as soon as he has sufficient evidence to do so and put procedures
in place to ensure that the rights and liberties of Americans are
protected. Finally, to help guarantee that the Terrorist Surveillance
Program exists only as long as is necessary to protect our national
security, the authorization for the program will expire in five years
unless reauthorized by Congress.

Again, thank you for contacting me. Please feel free to contact me
anytime with additional questions or concerns.

Very respectfully yours,
MIKE DeWINE
United States Senator

RMD/bf

Dredd # 49 said, Talking about censure or impeachment in this republican dictatorship is fondling illusion. We will have a balanced budget and "win the war" in Iraq and Iran before that happens.

Greater hope lies in taking back one or both houses of congress in November. Don't waste precious energy on illusion.

Nonsense. There is certainly good reason to throw out the Republicans, but let's not conflate one thing with another. A large proportion of Americans favor impeachment. It's not an illusion. (Although it is a highly-censored story.) Even if it can be shown to be likely an illusion (which, of course, you haven't shown at all) doesn't it occur to you to make it a reality?

Seize your citizenship. Voting is not all there is to being a citizen. Labor laws, civil and election rights (in other words matters of justice)...the necessary, good, wholesome things that have happened in this country have been the results of peoples movements, people saying enough is enough, not Washington legislators saying, "Gosh, this would be good for the country." And particularly not those officials who confuse corporate culture with American institutions - tragically for our nation, the mainstream mindset among those of the two-headed Corporate Party. (I would argue that even the initiation of impeachment in the case of Nixon was not wholesome enough, in terms of a popular movement, to create a necessary change in direction - the path that has taken us inexorably to where we are today.)

Or maybe this crisis is still not quite big enough?

Josh --- # 57 - I'm finding it hard to believe anyone is as dumb and naive as Kerry appears to be. He has been enabler-in-chief for a long time (even his his rhetoric being empty for the most part). I don't know what the hell his game is, but I wish he would go away.

Well, speaking of the Pro-war Dead Democratic Party, it's always absolutely wonderful to see these worthless Dems standing up and defending and supporting His Fradulency, George W Bush, the Chronic Liar and Thief.

Who do we have this time around? Well, this time it's House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) Hoyer says that Bush deserve respect because he's the "president" [sic].

Pssssssst, Mr Hoyer dear. RESPECT MUST BE EARNED! Didn't you ever learn that? One is not supposed to bow and scrape to someone just because that person holds a title (and in the case of Bush a title that he stole twice). I could go through an entire list (but Brad does not have that much space on his server) of why this international war criminal George W Bush does NOT deserve ANYONE'S respect. Period.

http://www.hillnews.com/...ntpage/050306/hoyer.html

A fraudulent White House resident who thinks that the US Constitution no longer applies to him does not deserve anyone's respect. Mr Hoyer, are you so out-of-touch that you don't have a clue of what's going on?

This is precisely another example of what I mean by the pro-war Dead Democratic Party. Most of its members stand FOR Bush over and over again!

This dead party does not deserve to take back ANYTHING in November (not that they are about to, mind you!). They have done nothing to be rewarded in such a way.

Bush deserve respect? HELL NO!

Have I told you how much I hate these people?

PS. Hey Dread, here's another one of your precious dead Democrats that you have unconditional LOVE for and blindly support. You support Mr Hoyer here? He's pro-war:

"House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), an appropriator who has supported the Iraq spending requests so far, said he also plans to support the $25 billion request, but will push for an amendment requiring oversight of all the spending. He predicted a majority of the 205 House Democrats will support the additional spending."

http://72.14.207.104/sea...d=2&client=firefox-a

If Hoyer were anti-war, he would be calling for ALL the troops to be brought home NOW.

I don't know what Kerry's game is, but I do know his effect. It's to water down any perception of the magnitude of the constitutional and political crisis our country is in. (Well, maybe that's his game.) Say what you will, it is a great disservice to the nation and it is time people recognized that.

#58 Steve

The thing is---those FISA laws were written JUST EXACTLY FOR THIS SITUATION!
A time of "war".
So that a President cannot have this much power without running it through other branches of government!!
DAMN IT!
IF Bush needs to "move fast" on wiretaps, which is his excuse for why he is doing this without judicial okay---he can jolly well do the tap & GET JUDICIAL OKAY IMMEDIATELY AFTERWARD!
WTF is his excuse for why he can't follow the law & get judicial ok immediately afterward?
I'll tell ya why--cause he doesn't want anyone to see what the hell he's doing, that's why.
Which is EXACTLY why the government saw fit to write those FISA laws in the first place!

So when do we walk on Capitol Hill?

How about now --- beginning this summer? A few million strong in shifts until the criminals are impeached? (Along with a lot of other action, of course.) Occupy Washington, D.C.

Since Nixon's pardon, the same people-fearing crowd (yep, they fear us) has been designing and implementing a structure to marginalize and stifle dissent - from media control to Constitutional degradation to dumbing down education and popular culture. Some of the largest demonstrations in history were hardly covered in the lead-up to the war.

Maybe we can overwhelm them with numbers, patience, and creativity. It would be so gratifying to show the "rulers of the universe" that they are not nearly as smart as they think they are.

That is - numbers + patience + creativity + resolve in a situation we all know to be critical may break the best laid plans to render dissent innocuous.

I'll take my shift.

Josh #57

The way I read the article was that Byrd was against Bush's version of the bill, but favored Kerry's.

I do have reservations, though, about the whole concept.

My point was that here bush is asking for a line item veto when in fact he is already changing the intent of bills with his amendments when he signs them.

PS if you click on the (CLICK HERE for help adding links in comments & much more!) link at the top of the comment edit box it will take you to a page where you can create a clickable link.
Paste your web address including the http:// portion into the top line, enter text for your link in the second line, click on "Create HTML" button then copy the bottom line into your comment.
It prevents what has happened to the column width when you post a an address such as the one at your comment #61 beginning http://72.14.207.104/search.....

Happy blogging!

Im curious about Arlen Specter.

"The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, accusing the White House of a ''very blatant encroachment" on congressional authority, said yesterday he will hold an oversight hearing into President Bush's assertion that he has the power to bypass more than 750 laws enacted over the past five years."

What do you 6 or7 think about this? Is he legit, or is it a smoke screen?

From past experience (Specter very serious then not-so-serious), I think it's a smokescreen, but, of course, I will be happy to be wrong.

Smokescreen is SOP.

I doubt Spectre is growing some balls. He wouldn't even put Gonzales under oath. We have to make sure they don't win this year, get some Dems with integrity like Feingold in key chairmanships and impeach these fucks! Let me know when you want to march this summer. I'm there.
Bradbloggers Unite!

Video "Despotism" - by bu$h

new remake of old video,... bu$h lies added,...

Despotism : bu$h : Link

# 70 Roger --- Yes, it is multifaceted work. And it's a mess, so we have to work with a mess. Dredd and others are right in saying we have to throw out the bums. I don't know if you've thought about this, but beginning in January next year, John Conyers could very well be House Judiciary Committee chairman. He will be if Democrats take control of Congress. From the basement to the possibly the key position in Congress to move with impeachment.

The other aspects of what we need to do are not nearly as easy to articulate and explain because they have to do with the corruption of the system itself, the health of dissent, and inexorable across-party-lines move away from representative democracy into a money system where people are pawns --- and it is happening so rapidly and is closely related to the ability of the Busheviks (and others of like color undoubtedly waiting in the wings) to gain power that we have to deal with it concurrently. That's the challenge.

I am convinced that the health of the nation will be best served if the consciousness of citizens is raised and they take an active part in re-instituting a republican form of government.

...and I haven't forgotten about the major problem of election integrity. Direct citizen action regarding elections is, of course, a spotlight on corruption (much more difficult to rig things under a spotlight) and just the kind of citizen uprising we need. That's one of the reasons I try to keep on top of things with Brad Blog.

BVAC # 33 - Here's an interesting article about impeaching "Cheney first".

Good page about impeachment support in the country here . I think it will happen.

Arry, good articles. If any serious inquiry into impeachment is made, it will quickly become obvious that Bush isn't steering the ship. If he was impeached and Cheney became President - even very temporarily - it could be a disaster. It would be irresponsible to throw the country into disarray with impeachment if we can't fundamentally change the composition of the administration. That involves getting rid of Cheney, Rumsfeld, and the other principals.

More from Specter today

Interesting. Of course it could also be a smoke screen
designed to keep it in the shadows since a filibuster would be more visible to the public.

brad said we are on a....

"a clear trajectory, hurling towards full-blown tyranny and/or fascism and/or dictatorship."

man, bush must be getting ready for one kick ass year and a half then. considering he cant run after that i think this is a little far fetched. or, simply made up. take your pick. when the guy runs for a third term, i will start to believe you weirdos. until then, stick to your less far fetched conspiracies like solviet subs in outer space after failed antigravity experiments. sheesh.

Right wing radio host,..

turns sharp left.

Click link : then click Doug's apology

http://www.kabc.com/mcin...amp;PT=As+Heard+On+Radio

Hey OT! That's a great link! Everybody should hear it.

brad,

ann sells stuff. they are called books. maybe you should try that rather than beg for cash.

:angry: HAIL KING GEORGE W. . . leader of the free world?