tagged w/ Bush Administration
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Just hours after Iranian President Ahmadinejad agreed to accept an IAEA deal to enrich uranium out of the country, they suddenly backed out. The plan had been to take Iran's nuclear stockpile and send it to Russia to be enriched. It's disappointing for those concerned about Iran's plans for its enriching uranium - though I don't think it's particularly surprising.
I was thinking about how long Iran has been playing this game, and it brought to mind this Supernews gem: Iran: Deal or No Deal?
That piece was produced in 2006. Over three years ago. It's kind of disheartening to see what looks like the same game playing out, but with a few different players. No more Bush or Condoleeza Rice, and Putin is now the Prime Minister of Russia, not the President. But it's hard not to watch this and see Iran doing the same things today. Is there another card up the Obama Administration's negotiating sleeve? Let's hope so.
From the NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/30/world/middleeast/30nuke.htmlJust hours after Iranian President Ahmadinejad agreed to accept an IAEA deal to enrich... more
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http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/04/scholars-reject/
The Obama administration’s position that the government can force mobile carriers to hand over cellphone tower location information on their customers without a warrant is wrong, two legal scholars say.
"Because CSLI acquisition is hidden, indiscriminate and intrusive, and because it reveals information over a period of time, it should be subject to the highest level of Fourth Amendment oversight (the same procedures used for wiretapping and video surveillance)," the scholars wrote late Friday.
The scholars are Susan Freiwald, of the USF School of Law, and Peter Swire, of Ohio State University.
Their words, published by the American Constitution Society, came a month after the Justice Department made its claim in a little-noticed case that the Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures did not apply.
Most Americans have or will carry a mobile phone in their lifespan, so the outcome could have wide-ranging privacy ramifications. Smartphones, like the iPhone, use cell-tower information to power geo-location applications like Google Maps.
In a case pending before the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the government maintains it can require federal judges to order mobile phone companies to release historical cell-tower information of a phone number without probable cause — the standard required for a search warrant.
While judges have differed on the issue, the resulting evidence can be used in a criminal prosecution. The case on appeal concerns a Pennsylvania judge who rejected the government’s position in a drug prosecution that the new administration inherited.
Mobile-phone providers keep cell-site information for up to 18 months. Historical cell-site location information includes the tower connected at the beginning of a call and at the end of the call. The government does not claim a warrantless right to cell-site information for future calls, only for calls already dialed.
"Cellular providers could, if they wanted, keep track of your cell phone’s location every seven seconds," the scholars wrote, "because your phone ‘registers’ that often with the nearest tower."http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/04/scholars-reject/
The Obama... more
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Retired General Paul Eaton, senior adviser to the National Security Network, has hit back hard at Dick Cheney a day after the former vice president criticized the Obama administration again for "dithering while America's armed forces are in danger." In a speech Wednesday night, Cheney said, "President Obama now seems afraid to make a decision, and unable to provide his commander on the ground with the troops he needs to complete his mission."
In an NSN press release, Eaton empties his chamber:
The record is clear: Dick Cheney and the Bush administration were incompetent war fighters. They ignored Afghanistan for 7 years with a crude approach to counter-insurgency warfare best illustrated by: 1. Deny it. 2. Ignore it. 3. Bomb it. While our intelligence agencies called the region the greatest threat to America, the Bush White House under-resourced our military efforts, shifted attention to Iraq, and failed to bring to justice the masterminds of September 11.
The only time Cheney and his cabal of foreign policy 'experts' have anything to say is when they feel compelled to protect this failed legacy. While President Obama is tasked with cleaning up the considerable mess they left behind, they continue to defend torture or rewrite a legacy of indifference on Afghanistan. Simply put, Mr. Cheney sees history throughout extremely myopic and partisan eyes.
Fun fact! Dick Cheney made his remarks at some sort of "Bush administration reunion" at Union Station last night. There, he received the super-prestigious "Keeper of the Flame" award and watched as beloved Bush administration felon Lewis "Scooter" Libby was honored with the "Service Before Self" award. Then, everyone had to board the Acela back to reality.
Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/22/national-security-network_n_330033.htmlRetired General Paul Eaton, senior adviser to the National Security Network, has hit... more
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You don't label a person confined to a wheel chair as "lazy", hence you don't label some one who smokes marijuana for medical reasons as a "stoner". For a while the Federal Government did not see it that way during the Bush Administration. but thankfully it has all ended.You don't label a person confined to a wheel chair as "lazy", hence you don't label... more
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The same media whining over criticisms of Fox was happy to be bullied and controlled by the Bush administration.
Hypocrisy is far too common a feature of our political culture to comprehensively chronicle, particularly when there is a change of party control and each side starts doing exactly that to which they spent the last several years vociferously objecting; see here for a vivid example of that dynamic, from a new Pew poll released today:
"The belief that the press should keep political leaders from doing things that should not be done often depends on who those political leaders are, or more specifically, which party controls the White House. Currently, in the midst of the Obama administration, two-thirds of Republicans (65%) support the so-called "watchdog role" for the press, compared with 55% of Democrats. But last year, while Bush was still in office, only 44% of Republicans felt it was good that press criticism keeps political leaders honest, and Democrats were much more pro watchdog (71% supported press criticism). This partisan pattern has existed since the question was first asked by Pew Research in 1985."
More @ linkThe same media whining over criticisms of Fox was happy to be bullied and controlled... more
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So much for post-partisan politics. Team Obama's attacks on Fox News are petty and childish. Top Bush strategist Nicolle Wallace on why the White House war on cable is backfiring badly.So much for post-partisan politics. Team Obama's attacks on Fox News are petty and... more
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The Clean Water Act was signed into law on October 18, 1972. It survived and adapted as settled and well accepted law until the Bush Administration began subverting it. Now this most successful piece of environmental law, which has saved millions of lives and protected our water needs to be renewed, restored and re-established as the law of the land.The Clean Water Act was signed into law on October 18, 1972. It survived and adapted... more
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An e-mail message buried by the Bush administration because of its conclusions on global warming surfaced Tuesday, nearly two years after it was first sent to the White House and never opened.
The Bush administration, and then EPA administrator Stephen Johnson, refused to release the document when it was written in 2007, and labeled it "deliberative, do not distribute" to Democratic lawmakers. The White House instead allowed three senators to review it in July 2008, when excerpts were released.
The e-mail and the 28-page document attached to it, released Tuesday by the Environmental Protection Agency, show that back in December of 2007 the agency concluded that six gases linked to global warming pose dangers to public welfare, and wanted to take steps to regulate their release from automobiles and the burning of gasoline.
The document specifically cites global warming's effects on air quality, agriculture, forestry, water resources and coastal areas as endangering public welfare.
That finding was rejected by the Bush White House, which strongly opposed using the Clean Air Act to address climate change and stalled on producing a so-called "endangerment finding" that had been ordered by the Supreme Court in 2007.An e-mail message buried by the Bush administration because of its conclusions on... more
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Neil Barofsky, the inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program has criticised US Treasury officials for making optimistic statements last September, at the height of the financial crisis.
The US Treasury misled the public over the health of struggling Wall Street banks receiving emergency funds at the height of the financial crisis, creating unrealistic expectations and undermining popular trust in bailout efforts, according to an official audit.
An inspector general appointed to oversee the US government's banking bailout has singled out president Bush's treasury secretary, Henry Paulson, for painting an excessively rosy picture of the condition of institutions such as Bank of America, Citigroup and Merrill Lynch when the government pumped $125bn (£70bn) into America's ten top banks in September last year.
At the time, Paulson described the banks as "healthy institutions" and said that an injection of government cash would kick-start lending in the economy. But officials in both the Treasury and the Federal Reserve had private concerns that some of them were teetering close to a financial collapse.
"The Treasury may have created unrealistic expectations about the institutions' condition and their ability to increase lending," says a report today by the inspector general, Neil Barofsky, who adds that the Treasury and the bail-out program "lost credibility when lending at those institutions did not in fact increase".
He continues: "Accuracy and transparency will enhance the credibility of government programs like TARP [the troubled asset repurchase plan] and restore taxpayer confidence in the policy makers who manage them; inaccurate statements, on the other hand, could have unintended long-term consequences that could damage the trust that the American people have in their government."Neil Barofsky, the inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program has... more
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In spite of President Obama’s lobbying efforts, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) may have chosen to reject hosting the 2016 summer olympic games in Chicago due to the post-9/11 visa tourist policies established by his predecessor, George W. Bush. Michael Froomkin, Professor at the University of Miami School of Law, is convinced that the “the same stupid anti-visitor policy that is destroying American higher education” also sunk Chicago’s Olympic bid. Chicago was eliminated during the first round and received the fewest votes. A New York Times article points out:
In the official question-and-answer session following the Chicago presentation, Syed Shahid Ali, an I.O.C. member from Pakistan, asked the toughest question. He wondered how smooth it would be for foreigners to enter the United States for the Games because doing so can sometimes, he said, be “a rather harrowing experience.”
A “harrowing experience” may be an understatement. Immediately after 9/11, the Bush Administration began requiring fingerprints and photographs of tourists from all but 28 countries entering the US. President Bush required that all foreigners register online within three days of travel. Thirty-five (mostly European) countries now participate in the US Visa Waiver program, however tourists from the rest of the world still have to jump through the following hurdles:
Pay hefty visa processing and issuance fees.
Undergo an interview by a visa officer at the US Embassy.
Provide evidence which shows the purpose of the trip, intent to depart the United States, and arrangements made to cover the costs of the trip may be provided.
Present convincing evidence that an interested person will provide financial support if the applicant does not have sufficient funds to support him or herself.
The average wait for a US visa has risen to about three months. Brazil, which will host the 2016 Olympic summer games in Rio de Janeiro, has a reciprocal visa policy with all countries. US tourists are required to have a $130 advance visa before entry into the country and are fingerprinted and photographed upon arrival — matching US requirements for Brazilians.In spite of President Obama’s lobbying efforts, the International Olympic Committee... more
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A federal judge ruled on Friday that the FBI must release its June 2004 interview with then-Vice President Dick Cheney concerning the leaking of the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame.
Both the Bush and Obama administrations have sought to keep the interview secret, but Judge Emmet Sullivan has determined (pdf) that there is no reason for the interview to remain sealed now that the Plame investigation has concluded:
“The Court concludes that the agency has failed to meet its burden of demonstrating that the requested documents were properly withheld in their entirety under any FOIA exemption protecting law enforcement interests. Limited portions of those documents, however, were properly withheld under exemptions designed to protect information that is privileged or that could impinge on personal privacy or threaten national security.”
Rep. Henry Waxman first issued a subpoena for the FBI interviews with Cheney and others in June 2008, citing both testimony by Lewis “Scooter” Libby and a book by former White House press secretary Scott McClellan as suggesting that Cheney might have been involved in the outing.
When the Justice Department refused on grounds of executive privilege, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a Freedom of Information request, followed in August 2008 by a lawsuit.A federal judge ruled on Friday that the FBI must release its June 2004 interview with... more
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In four years of researching and writing about Guantánamo, I have become used to uncovering shocking information, but for sheer cynicism, I am struggling to think of anything that compares to the revelations contained in the unclassified ruling in the habeas corpus petition of Fouad al-Rabiah, a Kuwaiti prisoner whose release was ordered last week by Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly (PDF) http://www.pillsburylaw.com/siteFiles/News/1259B22146574C540A8871C2C3131CA2.pdf.
In the ruling, to put it bluntly, it was revealed that the U.S. government tortured an innocent man to extract false confessions and then threatened him until he obligingly repeated those lies as though they were the truth.
Follow link for the rest of the story By Andy Worthington at The Huffington Post.In four years of researching and writing about Guantánamo, I have become used to... more
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According to a book written by Mr. Matt Latimer, former speech writer for George W. Bush, the White House officials in the administration, objected to give JK Rowling the Presidential Medal of Freedom, because they thought that her books "encouraged witchcraft."
Even more the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, a champion of the Healthcare Debate, was also denied the honor because the officials thought he was too liberal.According to a book written by Mr. Matt Latimer, former speech writer for George W.... more
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A memoir by George W Bush's former speechwriter claims that Bush administration officials objected to giving JK Rowling a presidential medal of freedom on the grounds that her Harry Potter books "encouraged witchcraft".
According to the liberal American blog Think Progress, Matt Latimer's Speech-Less: Tales of a White House Survivor reveals how politicised the medal, which is America's highest civilian honour, became during the Bush administration.
Latimer, whose memoir was published last week by Crown in the US, says that the "narrow thinking" of "people in the White House" led them "to actually object to giving the author JK Rowling a presidential medal because the Harry Potter books encouraged witchcraft".A memoir by George W Bush's former speechwriter claims that Bush administration... more
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Leading climate scientist criticises Bush administration and points to general ignorance of global warming in US public polls.
US ignorance about the risks and reality of global warming could sink hopes of a new global deal to control greenhouse gas emissions at December's climate talks in Copenhagen, an advisor to the German government has said.
Professor John Schellnhuber, of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany, said the US was "climate illiterate" and that the rest of the world may be forced to agree a new deal without it.
"Nobody should dream of the possibility that numbers and targets for countries will be sealed in Copenhagen," said Schellnhuber, one of the world's foremost climate scientists. "If the US doesn't move then nothing will happen."
He added: "The US in a sense is climate illiterate. It is a deeper problem in the US, if you look at global polls about what the public knows about climate change. Even in Brazil and China, you have more people who know the problem, who think that deep cuts in emissions are needed."Leading climate scientist criticises Bush administration and points to general... more
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Saying that “no one is above the law,” President Barack Obama is defending Attorney General Eric Holder’s decision to launch an investigation into CIA torture practices under the Bush administration.
“I have said consistently that I want to look forward and not backward when it comes to some of the problems that occurred under the previous administration, or when it came to interrogations,” Obama told CBS’s Bob Schieffer. “I don’t want witch hunts taking place. I’ve also said though that the Attorney General has a job to uphold the law.”
The president said he has “the utmost respect for the CIA,” but that the attorney general has “got to make [a] judgment in terms of what has occurred. My understanding is it’s not a criminal investigation at this point.”
The president was responding to a letter sent to him by seven former directors of the CIA, urging Obama to end the investigation because they say it would upend the CIA’s ability to do its job.
Two former CIA directors were notably missing from the letter’s signatures: Robert Gates, currently the secretary of defense, and former President George. H. W. Bush, who served as head of the CIA in the Ford administration.
Speaking to CNN’s John King on State of the Union, the president said he trusts prosecutors to be “judicious” when investigating the CIA.
“But the law is the law, we don’t go around picking” who and when to prosecute, the president said.Saying that “no one is above the law,” President Barack Obama is defending... more
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The Justice Department is investigating whether former Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton illegally used her position to benefit Royal Dutch Shell PLC, the company that later hired her, according to officials in federal law enforcement and the Interior Department.
The criminal investigation centers on the Interior Department's 2006 decision to award three lucrative oil shale leases on federal land in Colorado to a Shell subsidiary. Over the years it would take to extract the oil, according to calculations from Shell and a Rand Corp. expert, the deal could net the company hundreds of billions of dollars.The Justice Department is investigating whether former Interior Secretary Gale A.... more
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The U.S. is to shelve the Bush administration's plans for a missile-defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic.
Barack Obama confirmed the decision in a telephone conversation with the Czech prime minister, according to the country's media.
The Bush administration's claims that these missile systems in Poland and the Czech Republic were to defend against Iranian missiles was an insult to intelligence.The U.S. is to shelve the Bush administration's plans for a missile-defense system in... more
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In the first months I worked at the White House, I wrote any number of speeches praising America’s economic prosperity. There’d been month after month of uninterrupted job growth, after-tax income was increasing, exports were rising, inflation was down. “The fundamentals of our economy are strong,” we’d write. Because that’s what we’d been told. And as far as I could tell, the president was told the same thing by his economic advisers, led by Secretary Paulson. Paulson had been brought into the administration by Josh Bolten, the White House chief of staff. They’d both worked at Goldman Sachs. Paulson had been one of the highest-paid CEOs on Wall Street, making at least $30 million a year, and had an MBA from Harvard (like President Bush). Paulson was supposed to be a nonideological, pragmatic, sensible type. He was bald with glasses and had a scratchy voice that sounded like he had a thousand-dollar bill caught in his throat.
“This is the last bullet we have,” the president said at one point, referring to the bailout. “If this doesn’t work…” He shook his head, and his voice trailed off. That wasn’t good enough for me. If this doesn’t work, then what? We’re done? America is over? I looked around at everyone else. What does that mean?
“Too late to cancel the speech?” the president asked into the air. He was joking…I think. Finally, Ed (who hadn’t exactly rushed to jump into the line of fire) explained that we had to make this change to the address because the proposal the president liked might not end up being the one he had to agree to. “Then why the hell did I support it if I didn’t believe it would pass?” he snapped. There was yet another uncomfortable silence.
“We’re buying low and selling high,” he kept saying.
“Why did I sign on to this proposal if I don’t understand what it does?” he asked.In the first months I worked at the White House, I wrote any number of speeches... more
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It's not a record many Republicans are likely to point to with pride.
On every major measurement, the Census Bureau report shows that the country lost ground during Bush's two terms. While Bush was in office, the median household income declined, poverty increased, childhood poverty increased even more, and the number of Americans without health insurance spiked. By contrast, the country's condition improved on each of those measures during Bill Clinton's two terms, often substantially.
The Census' final report card on Bush's record presents an intriguing backdrop to today's economic debate. Bush built his economic strategy around tax cuts, passing large reductions both in 2001 and 2003. Congressional Republicans are insisting that a similar agenda focused on tax cuts offers better prospects of reviving the economy than President Obama's combination of some tax cuts with heavy government spending. But the bleak economic results from Bush's two terms, tarnish, to put it mildly, the idea that tax cuts represent an economic silver bullet.
Economists would cite many reasons why presidential terms are an imperfect frame for tracking economic trends. The business cycle doesn't always follow the electoral cycle. A president's economic record is heavily influenced by factors out of his control. Timing matters and so does good fortune.
But few would argue that national economic policy is irrelevant to economic outcomes. And rightly or wrongly, voters still judge presidents and their parties largely by the economy's performance during their watch. In that assessment, few measures do more than the Census data to answer the threshold question of whether a president left the day to day economic conditions of average Americans better than he found it.
If that's the test, today's report shows that Bush flunked on every relevant dimension-and not just because of the severe downturn that began last year.It's not a record many Republicans are likely to point to with pride.
On every... more
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