Yellow Dog

A pretty good riff today (a la Nike's "Just Do It" motto) from Jack Cafferty on CNN:

Who cares about whether the Patriot Act gets renewed? Want to abuse our civil liberties? Just do it.

Who cares about the Geneva Conventions. Want to torture prisoners? Just do it.

Who cares about rules concerning the identity of CIA agents. Want to reveal the name of a covert operative? Just do it.

Who cares about whether the intelligence concerning WMDS is accurate. Want to invade Iraq? Just do it.

Who cares about qualifications to serve on the nation's highest court. Want to nominate a personal friend with no qualifications? Just do it.

And the latest outrage, which I read about in "The New York Times" this morning, who cares about needing a court order to eavesdrop on American citizens. Want to wiretap their phone conversations? Just do it. What a joke. A very cruel, very sad joke.

CNN.com - Transcripts

Part 1: LIARS
When you've manufactured a war based on lies, really, what's another lie to try to cover your ass?

Bush on Wednesday:
"Some of the most irresponsible comments - about manipulating intelligence - have come from politicians who saw the same intelligence I saw and then voted to authorize the use of force against Saddam Hussein," Bush said on Wednesday in his most recent speech. "These charges are pure politics."

Bush's own Congressional Research Service on Thursday:
"The Congressional Research Service, by contrast, said: 'The president, and a small number of presidentially designated Cabinet-level officials, including the vice president ... have access to a far greater overall volume of intelligence and to more sensitive intelligence information, including information regarding intelligence sources and methods.'

The CRS report identified nine key U.S. intelligence "products" that aren't generally shared with Congress. These include the President's Daily Brief, a compilation of analyses that's given only to the president and a handful of top aides, and a daily digest on terrorism-related matters.

The White House didn't respond to a request for comment."

What could their comment possibly be, except for, "Oops, caught in another lie!"

KR Washington Bureau | 12/15/2005 | Congress doesn't see same intelligence as president, report finds

Part 2: CHEATERS
A former top Republican Party official was convicted on telephone harassment charges Thursday for his part in a plot to jam the Democrats' phones on Election Day 2002.

Tobin, 45, of Bangor, Maine, was President Bush's New England campaign chairman last year. He could get up seven years in prison and $500,000 in fines when he is sentenced in March.

Oh, and guess who's paying for Tobin's legal fees? That's right. The Republican National Committee.

Tobin guilty on phone jamming charges - Judy Harrison (176)

Part 3: SPIES
Kate Martin, director of the Center for National Security Studies at George Washington University, said the recent revelation of Bush's secret order to spy on US citizens may amount to the president authorizing criminal activity.

"This is as shocking a revelation as we have ever seen from the Bush administration," said Martin. "It is, I believe, the first time a president has authorized government agencies to violate a specific criminal prohibition and eavesdrop on Americans."

Bush Authorized Domestic Spying

Man, how low will this administration go?

Bush's environmental policy (and his EPA, full of industry insiders and former lobbyists) stinks.

From the AP:
"If the Bush administration has its way, some factories won't have to report all the pollution spewed from their smokestacks, making it harder for government scientists to calculate the health risks of the air Americans breathe."

Yep, to relieve those poor energy companies of their "regulatory burdens," the new EPA rules "would exempt companies from disclosing their toxic pollution if they claim to release fewer than 5,000 pounds of a specific chemical — the current limit is 500 pounds — or if they store it onsite but claim to release 'zero' amounts of the worst pollutants. Those include mercury, DDT, PCBs and other chemicals that persist in the environment and work up the food chain."

Once again, the Toxic Texan has chosen his buddies in the energy industry over the safety and health of average citizens. Looks like Bush's EPA is delivering a big bag of coal to the American people while the coal-producing plants can keep spewing their pollutants into the air without any attention to protecting public health. Bah humbug.

EPA Would Ease Pollution Reporting Rules - Yahoo! News

I thought conservatives were supposed to be for less government, particularly goverment infringement on individual privacy. So why are the majority of Republicans (with some notable exceptions) trying to do the Bush administration's bidding by pushing through the renewal of the Patriot Act when it contains such troubling provisions:

National Security Letters: Federal agents have employed these to obtain private records on thousands of individuals without having to get a court's permission. Everything from credit reports to electronic communications to travel and retail purchase records are fair game. And there's no requirement that this power be limited to use against suspected terrorists. The pending legislation would do little to curb such abuse.

Secret court orders: Known misleadingly as the "library records" provision of the 2001 law, this tool can be used to get a secret court order for tax records, medical records, gun records and more. The recipient of such an order is prohibited from disclosing that it exists, and new language does little to allow for meaningful judicial review. The revisions would impose only the vaguest requirement that the records sought are actually connected to a terrorist organization, a suspected terrorist or even someone in contact with a suspected terrorist.

'Sneak and peak' raids: The government would still, with a warrant, be able to break into your home or business, poke into anything there and not have to inform you for 30 days — and there's an escape clause to justify further delays. Most troubling, the Justice Department recently acknowledged that 88% of the search warrants issued under this provision have been used in cases that have nothing to do with terrorism.

Pretty scary that our own US government can collect private information on citizens, regardless of suspecting them of terrorism (or any crime for that matter) and can access library records, hotel bookings, car-rental files, etc. without even telling us. Creepy.

The final line of the article sums it up best: "True patriotism requires not only giving law enforcement the tools it needs, but also adequately protecting citizens against abuse of that power."

USATODAY.com - Qualms about anti-terror law unite the left and right