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Impeach
Bush--Index 7
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November 15,
2001 An Impeachable Offense Seizing dictatorial power WASHINGTON -- Misadvised by a frustrated and panic-stricken attorney general, a president of the United States has just assumed what amounts to dictatorial power to jail or execute aliens. Intimidated by terrorists and inflamed by a passion for rough justice, we are letting George W. Bush get away with the replacement of the American rule of law with military kangaroo courts. In his infamous emergency order, Bush admits to dismissing "the principles of law and the rules of evidence" that undergird America's system of justice. He seizes the power to circumvent the courts and set up his own drumhead tribunals — panels of officers who will sit in judgment of non-citizens who the president need only claim "reason to believe" are members of terrorist organizations. December 04, 2004 Knives out for Kofi Annan The sanctions committee (not U.N. bureaucrats) decided whether to approve contracts or not. In the 18 months before the Iraq War, U.N. officials presented the sanctions committee with 70 contracts that were potentially overpriced. Not a single one of these was put on hold, not one. Annan has said publicly that U.N. officials will not be permitted to hide behind claims of diplomatic immunity. In today's topsy-turvy world, this is described as stonewalling and obstruction of justice. December 04, 2004 An Impeachable Offense Navy Probes Photos of Bloodied Iraq Detainees Dec 3, 2004 — LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy is investigating photos posted on the Internet that appear to depict abuse of Iraqi detainees during their capture in May 2003 by Navy special forces, a Navy spokesman said on Friday. At least a dozen photos showing bloodied detainees were handed over to officials at the Naval Special Warfare Command at Coronado, California, by an Associated Press reporter who found them on a commercial photo-sharing Web site. July 20, 2004 Who is our Greatest President? It's the kind of argument that will never be settled, like who was a better ballplayer, Willie Mays or Mickey Mantle. But we took a look at the numbers, and for the money, among presidents since World War II, Clinton scores highest. Clinton's two terms in office (1993-2001) were marked by strong numbers for gross domestic product (GDP) and employment growth and especially for deficit reduction. His overall ranking puts him first among the ten postwar presidents--ahead of Lyndon B. Johnson, Kennedy and Reagan, who were tightly grouped behind the 42nd president and recent autobiographer. December 04, 2004 An Impeachable Offense US eliminating anyone who dares to count the bodies. "In Iraq, US forces and their Iraqi surrogates are no longer bothering to conceal attacks on civilian targets and are openly eliminating anyone - doctors, clerics, journalists - who dares to count the bodies." December 02, 2004 CBS and NBC Ban Church Ads CLEVELAND -- Despite recent statements by CBS and NBC executives that, earlier this year, their networks made clear that they would reject a television ad by the United Church of Christ for being "too controversial," church leaders disagree. Media buyers had no difficulty placing the ads on NBC and CBS stations during the campaign's test-market phase. December 02, 2004 Abstinence Programs Mislead Teens Many American youngsters participating in federally funded abstinence-only programs have been taught over the past three years that abortion can lead to sterility and suicide, that half the gay male teenagers in the United States have tested positive for the AIDS virus, and that touching a person's genitals "can result in pregnancy," a congressional staff analysis has found. December 02, 2004 Debt Created By Bush ($1.8 trillion) Historical Returns for 01/21/2001 through 12/02/2004 December 01, 2004 Alabama: Gay book ban goal of state lawmaker MONTGOMERY - An Alabama lawmaker who sought to ban gay marriages now wants to ban novels with gay characters from public libraries, including university libraries. A bill by Rep. Gerald Allen, R-Cottondale, would prohibit the use of public funds for "the purchase of textbooks or library materials that recognize or promote homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle." Allen said he filed the bill to protect children from the "homosexual agenda.". November 22, 2004 Machines sign KIA Letters And now, apparently, Rumsfeld's obsession with machines and their efficiency has translated into his using one to replace his own John Hancock on KIA (killed in action) letters to parents and spouses. Two Pentagon-based colonels, who've both insisted on anonymity to protect their careers, have indignantly reported that the SecDef has relinquished this sacred duty to a signature device rather than signing the sad documents himself. November 30, 2004 An Impeachable offense Red Cross Cites US for Abuse at Guantanamo Debt Washington, DC, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- The International Committee of the Red Cross has charged the U.S. military intentionally abused prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the New York Times said. The report came after a visit by a Red Cross inspection team that spent most of last June in Guantanamo. In July, the confidential report was distributed to lawyers at the White House, Pentagon and State Department and to the commander of the detention facility at Guantanamo, Gen. Jay Hood. The New York Times recently obtained a memorandum based on the report that quotes from it in detail. November 28, 2004 An Impeachable offense FALLUJAH NAPALMED And last night Tony Blair was dragged into the row as furious Labour MPs demanded he face the Commons over it. Reports claim that innocent civilians have died in napalm attacks, which turn victims into human fireballs as the gel bonds flames to flesh. Outraged critics have also demanded that Mr Blair threatens to withdraw British troops from Iraq unless the US abandons one of the world's most reviled weapons. Halifax Labour MP Alice Mahon said: "I am calling on Mr Blair to make an emergency statement to the Commons to explain why this is happening. It begs the question: 'Did we know about this hideous weapon's use in Iraq?'" August 10, 2003 An Impeachable Offense US admits it used napalm bombs in Iraq American pilots dropped the controversial incendiary agent napalm on Iraqi troops during the advance on Baghdad. The attacks caused massive fireballs that obliterated several Iraqi positions. The Pentagon denied using napalm at the time, but Marine pilots and their commanders have confirmed that they used an upgraded version of the weapon against dug-in positions. They said napalm, which has a distinctive smell, was used because of its psychological effect on an enemy. Nov 29, 2004 WTO authorized sanctions against US The World Trade Organization on Friday gave Korea and six other economies the green light to enact such tariffs in response to a U.S. subsidy law. The EU is allowed to levy up to $22.7 million and Japan is allowed to impose up to $81.9 million in trade sanctions on American products. Oct. 10, 2004 Witnessing Genocide In Sudan (CBS) We've all been hearing about something horrible in the African country of Sudan. So, 60 Minutes decided to go there to find out what's going on. What it found was evidence of a government-backed campaign to wipe out an entire race of people. There are at least 50,000 dead, and a million on the run — facts that led the U.S. government last month to call what was happening genocide. Correspondent Scott Pelley reports. It started a year and a half ago in part of Sudan called Darfur. Rebels looking for a measure of freedom revolted against Sudan's authoritarian Islamic government. The government apparently decided to end the revolt by attempting to wipe out all the native Africans in Darfur, essentially to clear the territory for the Arabs. November 26, 2004 Two more top spies quit troubled CIA Two more of America's top spies were reported yesterday to be leaving the CIA, as an attempt to fix the troubled agency appeared increasingly to be dividing its ranks and driving out its most experienced officials. The latest departures were undercover operatives, and so were not named in yesterday's press reports, which described them as "barons" in the top level of the CIA's clandestine service - officially called the directorate of operations - in charge of its European and Far East divisions. November 25, 2004 Staff Sgt. Shane Werst Charged with Murder SAN ANTONIO, Texas (AP) -- A U.S. soldier was arrested and jailed on murder charges Wednesday in the death of an Iraqi civilian in January. Staff Sgt. Shane Werst, 31, of El Toro, California, is accused of killing Naser Ismail after he was taken into custody by Werst's unit during a "cordon-and-search" operation in the Iraqi city of Balad on January 3. November 24, 2004 MPs launch bid to impeach Blair over Iraq war wenty three members of parliament lodged a motion on Wednesday to impeach British Prime Minister Tony Blair on charges of "gross misconduct" over his justification for invading Iraq. br /> The impeachment bid would be the first in Britain since a failed attempt to prosecute a foreign secretary in the mid-19th century. Its passing chances are minimal because it isn't supported by the two main opposition parties, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. November 24, 2004 Auditor : Halliburton Payments Should Be Cut 15 Percent WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Army should withhold payment of 15 percent of Halliburton Co.'s future invoices in Iraq due to billing problems, said the chief auditor for U.S.-funded work in Iraq on Wednesday. November 24, 2004 Army Guard misses recruiting goal by 30% WASHINGTON — The Army National Guard has fallen significantly behind its recruiting goal one month into the military's new fiscal year, continuing a downward slide that began in 2003 and could make it harder for the Pentagon to find enough troops for the war in Iraq. In October, the Army Guard recruited 2,546 enlistees, more than 30% below its target of 3,675. October 10, 2002 The Bush Purge of Science The new Bush administration appointees are less competent and have lower ethical standards than the purged government scientific advisors. Based on personal experience, I am convinced that the kinds of recent changes at HHS, as described above, can become catastrophic for the United States. Today's charlatans and environmental polluters are far more sophisticated, bigger and more ominous than their counterparts in the 1960s. And now Bush is weakening the HHS by replacing competent and highly principled scientific advisors with those smiled upon by his radical religious right and corporate supporters. Unless we soon have a "regime change" of our own in the forthcoming elections, we are bound to be dragged by the Bush administration into a new Dark Age. November 24, 2004 Bush: Theory, Instead of Facts Though his reelection campaign brilliantly marketed President Bush's anti-intellectualism, the truth is that his administration has trusted more to pure theory than virtually any modern president's. The Iraq war is a triumph of ideology over the facts on the ground (it's certainly not a triumph of anything else). And, as it's currently shaping up, Bush's second term looks to be even more theory-driven than his first. November 22, 2004 Civil rights enforcement falls in Bush term WASHINGTON -- The government's enforcement of civil rights laws declined sharply during the Bush administration, according to a study released yesterday. Even though the level of complaints received by the Justice Department has remained relatively constant, far fewer criminal charges have been filed. Federal prosecutors filed criminal charges against 159 defendants for violations of civil rights laws in 1999. By 2003, the number had dropped to 84, according to the study by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a non-partisan research center at Syracuse University in New York. November 22, 2004 Killing Other People's Children Unfortunately, for the past couple of weeks, the U.S. military has been engaged in doing exactly that: killing other people's children. It may not seem like it, judging from the candy-coated representations on the evening news, or the increasingly difficult to believe statements of the U.S. military that few, if any, civilians are being killed. November 21, 2004 Fallouja cost : $100 Million The initial cost estimate is at least $100 million, which will come from U.S. and Iraqi coffers. Officials emphasize that Iraqis will be hired for the hands-on construction, a public works mega-project that is certain to help spur the economy. The estimate includes compensation to the many residents whose homes and businesses were damaged in the fighting. November 21, 2004 Children Pay Cost of Iraq's Chaos After the rate of acute malnutrition among children younger than 5 steadily declined to 4 percent two years ago, it shot up to 7.7 percent this year, according to a study conducted by Iraq's Health Ministry in cooperation with Norway's Institute for Applied International Studies and the U.N. Development Program. The new figure translates to roughly 400,000 Iraqi children suffering from "wasting," a condition characterized by chronic diarrhea and dangerous deficiencies of protein. November 20, 2004 OMNIBUS SPENDING BILL BREAKS THE BANK "Here they go again. With the fat lady singing on the 108th Congress, lawmakers have just passed a massive spending bill that virtually no one has read, and no one knows much about. Despite this, hardly anyone seems to care. We heard a lot about how this bill is fiscally responsible. However, the facts speak for themselves. This bill is the fattest legislative hog that we have ever seen and despite record deficits, lawmakers are much more concerned with feathering the nests of their favorite parochial interests. If this bill is an indicator of what's to come, we will be swimming up a river of red ink for quite some time." March 19, 2002 Impeachable Offense Sheberghan death convoy Several men related how during a two-day ordeal at the hands of Northern Alliance soldiers, hundreds or even thousands had died in the containers. >But at least two of the prisoners said American special forces - deployed in the area last autumn to hunt for al-Qa'eda operatives - were present when the containers were loaded and, two days later, when the containers reached Sheberghan prison carrying their cargo of live and dead prisoners. September 16, 2001 An Impeachable Offense: Lie Cheney Misleads Russert--Threat to Air Force One VICE PRES. CHENEY: The president was on Air Force One. We received a threat to Air Force One--came through the Secret Service... MR. RUSSERT: A credible threat to Air Force One. You're convinced of that. VICE PRES. CHENEY: I'm convinced of that. May 20, 2004 Impeachable Offense Covert Propaganda GAO Says HHS Broke Laws With Medicare Videos The General Accounting Office concluded that the Department of Health and Human Services illegally spent federal money on what amounted to covert propaganda by producing videos about the Medicare changes that were made to look like news reports. Portions of the videos, which have been aired by 40 television stations around the country, do not make it clear that the announcers were paid by HHS and were not real reporters. November 17, 2004 An Impeachable Offense U.N. official denounces Fallujah killings GENEVA -- The United Nations top human rights official on Tuesday denounced the killing of civilians and injured people in Fallujah, saying violators of international humanitarian law must be brought to justice. Louise Arbour, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, spoke in general terms and did not specifically mention insurgents' attacks against hostages or a U.S. military report that it is investigating the videotaped fatal shooting of a wounded man by a U.S. Marine in a mosque in Fallujah. November 17, 2004 1600 rebels killed in Fallujah US-LED forces have killed at least 1600 insurgents and detained over 1000 in its offensive on Fallujah, Iraq's minister of state for national security said today. Kassim Daoud said the Iraqi government was fingerprinting and photographing the dead, most of whom were not carrying identification papers. November 17, 2004 An Impeachable Offense Marines will investigate claims of war crimes The senior officer in charge of the US Marines who have taken Fallujah said yesterday that a full investigation would be made into possible war crimes after one of his troops was captured on video apparently shooting dead an injured insurgent who had been taken prisoner. November 17, 2004 GOP Pushes Rule Change to Protect DeLay's Post House Republicans proposed changing their rules last night to allow members indicted by state grand juries to remain in a leadership post, a move that would benefit Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) in case he is charged by a Texas grand jury that has indicted three of his political associates, according to GOP leaders. November 17, 2004 U.S. Expresses Regrets for Iraq Shooting BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - The U.S. ambassador to Iraq expressed regret Wednesday over the fatal shooting by a Marine of a wounded and apparently unarmed man in a Fallujah mosque but said the incident would not undermine U.S. efforts to remove guerrillas from the city. November 17, 2004 Why Bush's America Feels Like Orwell's 1984 The closest thing to an admission of a "perception management" strategy came from a recent New York Times Magazine article, in which a senior advisor of the Bush Administration scoffed at Americans who exist in 'the reality based community," who "believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernable reality. That's not the way the world works anymore. We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality." November 17, 2004 Producer price increase highest in 14 years WASHINGTON - Prices paid to U.S. producers rose 1.7 percent last month, the biggest increase in 14 years, as higher energy and food costs suggested that inflation is picking up. Heating oil costs rose 17.9 percent, and the price of electricity increased 2.3 percent, the most since January 1991. Gasoline prices surged 17.3 percent, the biggest rise since June 2000. November 16, 2004 U.S. Air Force secretary to resign WASHINGTON - U.S. Air Force Secretary James Roche is expected to resign effective in January, defense officials said Tuesday as the Air Force continues to reel from the biggest Pentagon procurement scandal in a decade November 16, 2004 Should Canada indict Bush? When U.S. President George W. Bush arrives in Ottawa — probably later this year — should he be welcomed? Or should he be charged with war crimes? This act was passed in 2000 to bring Canada's ineffectual laws in line with the rules of the new International Criminal Court. While never tested, it lays out sweeping categories under which a foreign leader like Bush could face arrest. November 16, 2004 Dogs Eating Bodies in the Streets of Fallujah The military stopped the Red Crescent at the gates of the city and are not allowing them in. They allowed some bodies to be buried, but others are being eaten by dogs and cats in the streets, as reported by refugees just out of the city, as well as residents still trapped there. November 16, 2004 An Impeachable Offense Geneva Convention: Sick and Wounded Art. 12. Members of the armed forces and other persons mentioned in the following Article, who are wounded or sick, shall be respected and protected in all circumstances. They shall be treated humanely and cared for by the Party to the conflict in whose power they may be, without any adverse distinction founded on sex, race, nationality, religion, political opinions, or any other similar criteria. Any attempts upon their lives, or violence to their persons, shall be strictly prohibited; in particular, they shall not be murdered or exterminated, subjected to torture or to biological experiments; they shall not wilfully be left without medical assistance and care, nor shall conditions exposing them to contagion or infection be created. November 16, 2004 New York Times Rewrites Fallujah History On November 8, the Times reported: "In April, American troops were closing in on the city center when popular uprisings broke out in cities across Iraq. The outrage, fed by mostly unconfirmed reports of large civilian casualties, forced the Americans to withdraw. American commanders regarded the reports as inflated, but it was impossible to determine independently how many civilians had been killed." The next day, the Times made the same point, reporting that the U.S. "had to withdraw during a previous fight for the city in April after unconfirmed reports of heavy civilian casualties sparked outrage among both Sunni and Shiite Iraqis." And on November 15, the Times noted that the current operation "redressed a disastrous assault on Fallujah last April that was called off when unconfirmed reports of large civilian casualties drove the political cost too high." November 16, 2004 Iraqis remove corpses under U.S. oversight In a state of barely contained panic, the Iraqis rushed into housing compounds to lift bodies onto blankets, then into the same body bags Marines use to transport the remains of their dead colleagues. The Iraqi men coughed, gagged and choked from the stench. They found four bodies that had been hastily buried outside a house in shallow graves, marked by cinder blocks. The Iraqis dug up the bodies, wrapped them in blankets and lifted them onto a truck. A message written on a wall in front of the graves identified the corpses as two men and two women. November 16, 2004 An Impeachable Offense 800 Civilians Feared Dead in Fallujah BAGHDAD, Nov 16 (IPS) - At least 800 civilians have been killed during the U.S. military siege of Fallujah, a Red Cross official estimates. Speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of U.S. military reprisal, a high-ranking official with the Red Cross in Baghdad told IPS that "at least 800 civilians" have been killed in Fallujah so far. November 16, 2004 It's war: the CIA vs Bush It is "an insurgency", in the words of a Wall Street Journal editorial, that the CIA is unlikely to win. "The agency is being purged on instructions from the White House," said a former CIA official. "Goss was given instructions ... to get rid of those soft leakers and liberal Democrats. The CIA is looked on by the White House as a hotbed of liberals and people who have been obstructing the President's agenda." Jim Pavitt, a 31-year CIA veteran, said last month that he had not seen this level of "viciousness and vindictiveness" between and a government and the CIA. November 15, 2004 Former CIA Analyst Scheuer Speaks out on bin Laden A former CIA analyst took off his disguise to say on Sunday that the United States must respect Osama bin Laden for the enemy he is, or many more will die. "Until we respect him, we are going to die in numbers that are probably unnecessary,' former CIA analyst Michael Scheuer told CBS's '60 Minutes' program. November 15, 2004 Top leaders of CIA's clandestine service resign WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Steven Kappes and Michael J. Sulick, the top leaders of the CIA's directorate of operations, resigned Monday morning, sources told CNN. Their departures come in a period of turmoil at the intelligence agency as the new director, Porter Goss seeks to impose his control. November 15, 2004 Rubin,Rogoff say dollar threatened by deficits.html Rubin, "If markets begin to fear long-term fiscal disarray and if foreign providers of the capital inflows we are now so dependent on share this fear and also become concerned about our currency, then the markets may begin to demand sharply higher interest rates for long-term debt, with all the problems that may lead to for markets and our economy," Rubin, chairman of the executive committee at Citigroup Inc., said in a Nov. 8 speech.< November 14, 2004 An Impeachable Offense US accused of ‘torture flights' AN executive jet is being used by the American intelligence agencies to fly terrorist suspects to countries that routinely use torture in their prisons. The movements of the Gulfstream 5 leased by agents from the United States defence department and the CIA are detailed in confidential logs obtained by The Sunday Times which cover more than 300 flights. November 11, 2004 Abraham, Paige, Venneman, Powell Resign Besides Powell, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, Education Secretary Rod Paige and Agriculture Secretary Ann Venneman have also submitted resignations, a senior administration official said. The four would become the second batch of cabinet members to resign following President George W. Bush's reelection on Nov. 2. Attorney General John Ashcroft and Commerce Secretary Don Evans resigned last week. November 01, 2004 How Bush Widened The Wealth Gap Today the top 1% of households receives more pretax income than the bottom 40%. And the distribution of wealth is even more lopsided. The top 1% of households owns nearly 40% of total household wealth -- more than the bottom 90% of households combined -- and earns half of all capital income. Income and wealth are more unevenly distributed among Americans than at any time since the Jazz Age of the 1920s. On measures of income and wealth inequality, the U.S. tops the charts among the advanced industrial nations. October 30, 2004 UN dendied access into Iraq before looting WASHINGTON -- United Nations weapons inspectors pressed for permission to return to Iraq to help monitor weapons sites on the heels of the US-led invasion but were denied entry by the US-led coalition, according to a former inspector, UN officials, and a letter from the International Atomic Energy Agency obtained by the Globe. November 10, 2004 Matrimonial Lawyers Approve Same-Sex Marriage The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, the nation's top 1,600 divorce and matrimonial law attorneys, has approved two resolutions supporting the legalization of marriage between same-sex couples and urging Congress and state legislatures to pass legislation enabling same-sex marriage. May 20, 2004 Impeachable Offense Bush Administration Violates Federal Law: Medicare Rx Plan SAN FRANCISCO, May 20 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The non-partisan General Accounting Office (GAO) announced that the Bush Administration had violated federal law by failing to disclose the source of recent advertising about the new Medicare prescription drug law. The GAO also raised serious concerns over "notable omissions and weakness" in the materials and failures to disclose limitations in the law, according to the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights which is urging television and radio stations to counter the false advertising by disclosing three key facts about the law that could impact a senior's decision to enroll. October 28, 2004 O'Connor touts global law "International law is no longer a specialty. ... It is vital if judges are to faithfully discharge their duties," Justice O'Connor told attendees at a ceremony dedicating Georgetown's new international law center. November 14, 2004 On 'Moral Values,' It's Blue in a Landslide The president is putting his own counsel, Alberto Gonzales, who wrote the famous memo defending torture, in charge of our civil liberties. Torture Guy, who blithely threw off 75 years of international law and set the stage for the grotesque abuses at Abu Ghraib and dubious detentions at Guantánamo, seems to have a good grasp of what's just. No doubt we'll soon learn what other protections, besides the Geneva Conventions and the Constitution, Mr. Gonzales finds "quaint" and "obsolete." November 11, 2004 Bush's New Torture Candidate The president is putting his own counsel, Alberto Gonzales, who wrote the famous memo defending torture, in charge of our civil liberties. Torture Guy, who blithely threw off 75 years of international law and set the stage for the grotesque abuses at Abu Ghraib and dubious detentions at Guantánamo, seems to have a good grasp of what's just. No doubt we'll soon learn what other protections, besides the Geneva Conventions and the Constitution, Mr. Gonzales finds "quaint" and "obsolete." November 06, 2004 U.S. Expands List of Lost Missiles WASHINGTON, Nov. 5 - American intelligence agencies have tripled their formal estimate of shoulder-fired surface-to-air missile systems believed to be at large worldwide, since determining that at least 4,000 of the weapons in Iraq's prewar arsenals cannot be accounted for, government officials said Friday. The new estimate by American intelligence agencies was described by government officials who had access to the classified intelligence report. They said the tripling of the number represented the first formal effort to determine how unaccounted Iraqi stockpiles may have compounded the surface-to-air missile threat. Only several hundred shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles from the Iraqi arsenals have been turned in to American forces in a buyout program, the government officials said. November 08, 2004 The Satanic Christians of the USA One such example was the blasphemy of the Taleban regime, which usurped the Noble Qu'ran and substituted its core message with a mixture of Pashtun lore and extremist Islamist law. The result: an insult and a direct attack against Islam itself. Similarly, the so-called Christian Fundamentalists in the United States of America, whose warped and blasphemic view of their religion supports the acts of the Bush regime. The Christian Fundamentalists of America are the mirror image of the Taleban, both of which insult and deny their Gods. November 09, 2004 Judge Rules Guantanamo Trials Unlawful Military trials set up to determine the guilt or innocence of enemy combatants imprisoned at a U.S. military prison in Cuba are unlawful and cannot continue in their current form, a federal judge ruled this afternoon. In a major setback to the Bush administration, U.S. District Judge James Robertson found that detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, may legally be prisoners of war entitled to the protections of international law and should be allowed a hearing on whether they qualify for those protections. February 25, 2004 O'Reilly said he'd never trust Bush again Right before U.S. forces invaded Iraq, O'Reilly made a bold promise on ABC about Iraq's WMDs: "If the Americans go in and overthrow Saddam Hussein and it's clean, he has nothing, I will apologize to the nation, and I will not trust the Bush Administration again, all right?" Last week, thanks to persistent needling from ABC host Charlie Gibson, O'Reilly mustered a half-hearted apology: "Well, my analysis was wrong and I'm sorry.. I was wrong. I'm not pleased about it at all." As to the promise to "never trust the Bush administration again," he was considerably less forceful: "I am much more skeptical of the Bush administration now than I was at that time," he explained, before blaming CIA chief George Tenet for Bush's troubles. November 05, 2004 God Help America This once-great country has pulled up its drawbridge for another four years and stuck a finger up to the billions of us forced to share the same air. And in doing so, it has shown itself to be a fearful, backward-looking and very small nation. Instead America chose a man without morals or vision. An economic incompetent who inherited a $2billion surplus from Clinton, gave it in tax cuts to the rich and turned the US into the world's largest debtor nation. November 05, 2004 Bush Agenda: mathematically impossible But in an independent analysis of that budget, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office concluded it would not fulfill that promise. The deficit in fiscal 2004, which ended Sept. 30, was $413 billion. Under Bush's plan for spending and taxes, the deficit would be $258 billion in 2009. If anything, that may understate the size of the deficit in coming years because it does not include any additional costs for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Pentagon is expected to seek an additional $70 billion early next year. November 08, 2004 Global Warming Severest in Artic EDMONTON (CP) - A comprehensive scientific study of the Arctic climate has confirmed what Canadian Dene and Inuit have been saying for years: the North is melting, and faster all the time. Released Monday, the four-year study produced by 250 scientists from eight circumpolar countries concludes that global warming is affecting the Arctic more heavily than any other region on earth. November 07, 2004 Bush to seek gay-marriage ban WASHINGTON, Nov 7 (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush will renew a quest in his second term for a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage as essential to a "hopeful and decent" society, his top political aide said on Sunday. November 04, 2004 Two Nations Under God My problem with the Christian fundamentalists supporting Mr. Bush is not their spiritual energy or the fact that I am of a different faith. It is the way in which he and they have used that religious energy to promote divisions and intolerance at home and abroad. I respect that moral energy, but wish that Democrats could find a way to tap it for different ends. November 04, 2004 GOP Cultivates Hate to Win Election Exit polls of 13,531 voters nationwide showed that 22 percent cited ``moral values'' as their top issue in the election, according to CNN. That trumped the 20 percent who cited the economy, the 19 percent who chose terrorism and 15 percent who selected the Iraq war. And 79 percent of those citing moral values voted for Bush, the exit polls showed. "There's a new cultural dividing line and it's becoming Republican,'' says Vin Weber, Midwest chairman of the Bush campaign. ``It started in the South and it's moving north. It's happening in small towns, rural areas. These are lifestyle issues, not economic issues." November 03, 2004 Bush's 2nd Term Gay Agenda With the possibility of as many as four justices to replace, Bush could pack the court with ultra conservatives who would serve for a generation. Such a conservative court would never hear arguments on same-sex marriage or any other gay rights issue. November 04, 2004 Gay exodus to Canada Even though Michelle and her partner of 5 years, Diane Roznik, have litigation pending (they were married in Oregon on March 8 this year), the reelection of George Bush figures large in their motivation to move. So does the fact that conservatives prevailed in all 11 states where gay marriage bans were on the ballots. They expect their marriage will be invalidated like the marriages that took place in San Francisco. "I have always believed no one president could do permanent damage to our country, but I have begun to see things differently. I see an era of theocracy beginning that is going to be impossible to stop. With both houses under neocon republican control, the president a neocon, and the probability that two supreme court justices will be appointed and approved by the republicans, it is a frightening day for freedom, for liberty, for justice." Michelle Adams November 04, 2004 Immigration web site flooded with queries from U.S. anti-Bush visitors OTTAWA (CP) - Canada's immigration website is being flooded with a record-smashing number of visits from U.S. Democrats dismayed by the prospect of four more years living under President George W. Bush. His re-election has some long-faced U.S. liberals apparently musing that perhaps Canada's cold winters, high taxes and strained health system are more easily endured than their commander-in-chief. A new record was set within hours of Bush's acceptance speech as six times more Americans than usual surfed the site Wednesday. The overall number of 179,000 visitors was almost twice the previous one-day record set last year and a whopping 64 per cent of visitors - 115,016 - were from the United States. November 04, 2004 Canada Bracing For Onslaught Of Gay Americans (Ottawa) The Canadian government is preparing for a gay migration from the US following Tuesday's election. Already Canadian consulates in Chicago and New York have been approached by dozens of same-sex couples enquiring about immigration. But, some immigration lawyers are suggesting a different approach: Applying for refugee status. It is one which has not been tested. But the government is suggesting it could be tried. The test would be is it dangerous for gay and lesbian couples to live in the US under laws which do not recognize them. Usually, people who come to Canada claiming refugee status are from regimes where their lives would be in jeopardy. November 3, 2004 Arctic Ice Melt Accelerating The Arctic is warming almost twice as fast as the rest of the planet due to global warming, according to an eight-nation report compiled by 250 scientists. "The big melt has begun," said Jennifer Morgan, director of the WWF's global climate change campaign. A thaw of the Arctic icecap is accelerating because of global warming but nations in the region including the United States are deadlocked about how to stop it. October 31, 2004 Demonizing Gay Couples By demonizing gay couples, the Republicans were able to bring in whole swathes of new anti-gay believers into their party. With new senators Jim DeMint and Tom Coburn, two of the most anti-gay politicians in America, we can only brace ourselves for what is now coming. October 30, 2004 Two More Iraq Arms Stashes In Focus (AP) Looters unleashed last year by the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq overran a sprawling desert complex where a bunker sealed by U.N. monitors held old chemical weapons, American arms inspectors report. Charles Duelfer's arms teams say all U.N.-sealed structures at the Muthanna site were broken into. If the so-called Bunker 2 was breached and looted, it would be a new case of restricted weapons being at risk of having fallen into militants' hands. October 31, 2004 Cherie Blair lambasts Bush over human rights CHERIE Blair has criticised the policies of the US President George W Bush, attacking his stance on terrorist prisoners and gay rights. The Prime Minister's wife was condemned by supporters of the US President, after a speech to Harvard law students which contained a stinging rebuke to Bush, while on a lecture tour of the United States. She attacked the manner in which the White House has dealt with the human rights of UK citizens detained at the US-run Camp X-Ray prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. October 29, 2004 Bin Laden Transcript You, the American people, I talk to you today about the best way to avoid another catastrophe and about war, its reasons and its consequences. And in that regard, I say to you that security is an important pillar of human life, and that free people do not compromise their security. October 29, 2004 Giuliani suggests troops were responsible for weapons stockpiles WESTLAKE, Ohio - (KRT) - Rudy Giuliani stepped all over President Bush's message of the day when he suggested Thursday that U.S. troops and not the White House were responsible for the missing explosives in Iraq. "The actual responsibility for it really would be for the troops that were there," Giuliani said on NBC's "Today" show. "Did they search carefully enough? Didn't they search carefully enough? October 28, 2004 Report: Video Shows Explosives Went Missing After War LONDON - Researchers have estimated that as many as 100,000 more Iraqis - many of them women and children - died since the start of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq than would have been expected otherwise, based on the death rate before the war. Writing in the British-based medical journal The Lancet, the American and Iraqi researchers concluded that violence accounted for most of the extra deaths and that airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition were a major factor. October 29, 2004 Household Survey Sees 100,000 Iraqi Deaths LONDON - Researchers have estimated that as many as 100,000 more Iraqis - many of them women and children - died since the start of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq than would have been expected otherwise, based on the death rate before the war. Writing in the British-based medical journal The Lancet, the American and Iraqi researchers concluded that violence accounted for most of the extra deaths and that airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition were a major factor.ba. October 27, 2004 British Ex-Guantanamo Detainees Sue Rumsfeld WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Four British former inmates of the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay sued Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and others on Wednesday saying they were tortured in violation of U.S. and international law. The federal court suit alleges they faced repeated beatings, death threats, interrogation at gunpoint, forced nakedness and menacing with unmuzzled dogs, among other mistreatment, during more than two years at the Guantanamo Bay center in Cuba. October 27, 2004/November 8 Edition American Conservative Endorses Kerry--kinda Bush has behaved like a caricature of what a right-wing president is supposed to be, and his continuation in office will discredit any sort of conservatism for generations. The launching of an invasion against a country that posed no threat to the U.S., the doling out of war profits and concessions to politically favored corporations, the financing of the war by ballooning the deficit to be passed on to the nation's children, the ceaseless drive to cut taxes for those outside the middle class and working poor: it is as if Bush sought to resurrect every false 1960s-era left-wing cliché about predatory imperialism and turn it into administration policy. Add to this his nation-breaking immigration proposal—Bush has laid out a mad scheme to import immigrants to fill any job where the wage is so low that an American can't be found to do it—and you have a presidency that combines imperialist Right and open-borders Left in a uniquely noxious cocktail. October 25, 2004 New Yorker Breaks 80-year Tradition and Endorses Kerry Secrecy and arrogance have been the touchstones of the Justice Department under Bush and his attorney general, John Ashcroft. Seven weeks after the 9/11 attacks, the Administration announced that its investigation had resulted in nearly twelve hundred arrests. The arrests have continued, but eventually the Administration simply stopped saying how many people were and are being held. In any event, not one of the detainees has been convicted of anything resembling a terrorist act. October 16, 2004 MUST READ John Sachs: Leave or sniper will take you out One of the latest incidents came when John Sachs, 18, a Johnston High School senior and Democrat, went to see Bush in Clive last week. Sachs got a ticket to the event from school and wanted to ask the president about whether there would be a draft, about the war in Iraq, Social Security and Medicare. But when he got there, a campaign staffer pulled him aside and made him remove his button that said, "Bush-Cheney '04: Leave No Billionaire Behind." The staffer quizzed him about whether he was a Bush supporter, asked him why he was there and what questions he would be asking the president. "Then he came back and said, 'If you protest, it won't be me taking you out. It will be a sniper,' " Sachs said. "He said it in such a serious tone it scared the crap out of me." October 25, 2004 Bush Scales Back Hunt for bin Laden As jihadist enemies reorganized, slipping back and forth from Pakistan and Iran, the CIA closed forward bases in the cities of Herat, Mazar-e Sharif and Kandahar. Replacements did not keep pace with departures as case officers finished six-week tours. And Task Force 5 -- a covert commando team that led the hunt for bin Laden and his lieutenants in the border region -- lost more than two-thirds of its fighting strength. October 26, 2004 Consumer Confidence Hits 7-Month Low NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. consumers turned gloomier in October, beset by soaring energy costs, relentless violence in Iraq, sluggish hiring and an increasingly bitter presidential campaign. The Conference Board's gauge of consumer confidence fell to 92.8 in October, the lowest in seven months, from 96.7 in September, the private business group said on Tuesday. The reading was below economists' expectations for a dip to 94.0. The main index was dragged down mainly by the consumer expectations component, which tumbled to 92.0 from 97.7. The current conditions index slipped to 94.2 from 95.3. October 23, 2004 Bush failed to attack Zarqawi Some former officials said the intelligence on Mr. Zarqawi's whereabouts was sound. In addition, retired Gen. John M. Keane, the U.S. Army's vice chief of staff when the strike was considered, said that because the camp was isolated in the thinly populated, mountainous borderlands of northeastern Iraq, the risk of collateral damage was minimal. Former military officials said that adding to the target's allure was intelligence indicating that Mr. Zarqawi himself was in the camp at the time. A strike at the camp, they believed, meant at least a chance of killing or incapacitating him. In recent months, Mr. Zarqawi's group has been blamed for a series of beheadings of foreigners and deadly car bombings in Iraq, as well as the recent kidnapping of Margaret Hassan, the director of CARE International there. According to wire-service reports, Mr. Zarqawi's group, recently renamed the Al Qaeda Organization for Holy War in Iraq, on Sunday claimed responsibility for the massacre of more than 40 Iraqi army recruits in eastern Iraq. October 23, 2004 No Direct Evidence of Plot To Attack Around Elections On Sept. 15, FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III and John E. McLaughlin, then acting director of the CIA, brought a special note of concern to their daily briefing with President Bush. But five weeks after the effort began, U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials say they have found no direct evidence of an election-related terrorist plot. Authorities also say that a key CIA source who had claimed knowledge of such plans has been discredited, casting doubt on one of the earliest pieces of evidence pointing to a possible attack. October 23, 2004 Bush loses Newspaper Endorsements Daily Endorsement Tally: NEW YORK Sen. John Kerry continued his raid on newspapers that backed President Bush in 2000, grabbing 24 new "flip-flops," plus The Washington Post, which was a major supporter of the war in Iraq. The Democrat has now won endorsements from at least 35 papers that went for Bush in 2000, while Bush has earned only two Gore papers. September 20, 2004 An Impeachable Offense Update: Terrorist Theat to Air Force One Was a Lie The Secret Service's Intelligence Division tracked down the origin of this threat and, during the day, determined that it had originated in a misunderstanding by a watch officer in the White House Situation Room.The director of the White House Situation Room that day disputes this account. But the Intelligence Division had the primary job of running down the story, and we found their witnesses on this point to be credible. During the afternoon of September 11 the leadership of the Secret Service was satisfied that the reported threat to "Angel" was unfounded. February 1998 Bin Laden's Jihad (Declaration of War) No one argues today about three facts that are known to everyone; we will list them, in order to remind everyone: First, for over seven years the United States has been occupying the lands of Islam in the holiest of places, the Arabian Peninsula, plundering its riches, dictating to its rulers, humiliating its people, terrorizing its neighbors, and turning its bases in the Peninsula into a spearhead through which to fight the neighboring Muslim peoples. October 24, 2004 An Impeachable Offenes Whistleblower Claims Halliburton Received Deal Whistleblower claims of deals for The Army has agreed to a Pentagon investigation into claims by a top contracting official that a Halliburton subsidiary unfairly won no-bid contracts worth billions of dollars for work in Iraq and the Balkans, according to Army documents obtained Sunday. The complaint alleges that the award of contracts without competition to restore Iraq's oil industry and to supply and feed U.S. troops in the Balkans puts at risk "the integrity of the federal contracting program as it relates to a major defense contractor." October 24, 2004 Geneva Conventions violated An Impeachable Offense CIA Moved Iraq Prisoners out of Country WASHINGTON (AP) Leading senators expressed concern Sunday about a report that the CIA has secretly moved as many as a dozen unidentified prisoners out of Iraq in the past six months, a possible violation of international treaties. June 30, updated Sept. 29, 2004 Over 40% of Canadian Teens Think the US is Evil In one telephone poll of teens between the ages of 14 and 18, over 40 per cent of the respondents described the United States as being "evil". That number rose to 64 per cent for French Canadian youth. The poll results reflect that anti-Americanism will be solidly entrenched in future generations of Canadians. [Two articles]
October 21, 2004 South Dakokta: Five Charged in Absentee Voter Controversy They were identified as Joseph Alick, 28; Nathan Mertz, 20; Todd Schlekeway, 27; Rachel Hoff, 22; and Eric Fahrendorf, 24. Fahrendorf had been listed as a Republican Party employee. Officials said the rest were volunteers. The five and another worker, Larry Russell, resigned earlier this month. Russell had sought the party's nomination for a special U.S. House election in June and most recently directed the GOP's get-out-the-vote program. October 21, 2004 PIPA Poll: What's Wrong with Bush Supporters? So why is this the case? And, more specifically, why are Bush supporters clinging so tightly to beliefs that have been so visibly refuted? As discussed, one key possible explanation for why Bush supporters continue to believe that Iraq had WMD or a major WMD program, and supported al Qaeda is that they continue to hear the Bush administration confirming these beliefs. Another possible explanation is that Bush supporters cling to these beliefs because they are necessary for their support for the decision to go to war with Iraq. Asked whether the US should have gone to war with Iraq if US intelligence had concluded that Iraq was not making WMD or providing support to al Qaeda, 58% of Bush supporters said the US should not have, and 61% assume that in this case the president would not have. To support the president and to accept that he took the US to war based on mistaken assumptions is difficult to bear, especially in light of the continuing costs in terms of lives and money. Apparently, to avoid this cognitive dissonance, Bush supporters suppress awareness of unsettling information. October 21, 2004 The Non-Arguable Case Against the Bush Administration 1. The Bush Administration has spent more than $140 billion on a war of choice in Iraq. 2. The Bush Administration sent troops into battle without adequate body armor or armored Humvees. 3. The Bush Administration ignored estimates from Gen. Eric Shinseki that several hundred thousand troops would be required to secure Iraq. . . . 100. The Bush Administration--reversing years of bipartisan tradition--refuses to answer requests from Democratic members of Congress about how the White House is spending taxpayer money. October 19, 2004 Nearly 1.7 Million Veterans Lack Health Care WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nearly 1.7 million U.S. veterans had no health care coverage in 2003 -- no access to private insurance, to Medicare or Medicaid or to the Veterans Affairs health program, health care advocates said on Tuesday. Many had seen combat in Vietnam or the Gulf Wars and most were employed, the Physicians for a National Health Program and Public Citizen said in a joint report. "The number of uninsured veterans has increased by 235,159 since 2000, when 9.9 percent of non-elderly veterans were uninsured, a figure which rose to 11.9 percent in 2003," the groups said. October 17, 2004 Has Bush lost his reason? It does not help that Bush now lives in a positively Nixonian cocoon. He does not read newspapers; he sees television only to watch football; he makes election speeches exclusively at ticket-only events, and his courtiers consciously avoid giving him bad news. When he met John Kerry for their first bout on the debating platform, it was almost a new experience for the President to hear the voice of dissent. A senior Republican, experienced and wise in the ways of Washington, told me last Friday that he does not necessarily accept that Bush is unstable, but what is clear, he added, is that he is now manifestly unfit to be President. October 16, 2004 We didn't go in with a plan. We went in with a theory The authors quote a veteran State Department officer who was directly involved in Iraq policy saying, "We didn't go in with a plan. We went in with a theory." "We've finally got our act together, but we're all afraid it may be too late," commented one senior official still engaged daily in Iraq policy. October 14, 2004 Conversation with a Conservative: John Dean So I began looking at the Bush speeches. Then I looked at one where I deconstructed virtually every line of his case to go to war, which he gave in his January 2003 State of the Union message. When I pulled that speech apart, I realized, not only did he have good information -- he had exactly the information he wanted -- and he was manipulating what he had and distorting it; because he was actually naming and identifying the sources of his information. And as soon as you went to the source, you found it wasn't what he said it was. He built his entire case knowing exactly what he was doing and apparently deciding to play the American people for fools, [assuming] that nobody would ever check and look at the information. August 26, 2004 1.3 million more slipped into poverty 2004 WASHINGTON (CNN) - The number of Americans living in poverty jumped to 35.9 million last year, up by 1.3 million, while the number of those without health care insurance rose to 45 million from 43.6 million in 2002, the U.S. government said in a report Thursday. The percentage of the U.S. population living in poverty rose to 12.5 percent from 12.1 percent -- as the poverty rate among children jumped to its highest level in 10 years, the Census Bureau said in an annual report. The rate for adults 18-to-64 and 65-and-older remained steady. October 19, 2004 Shareholders Challenge Sinclair WASHINGTON -- The Washington bureau chief of Sinclair Broadcast Hevesi said only three of the company's directors appear to meet NASDAQ's independence criteria and notes Sinclair shares have dropped from $15.02 in January to below $7, while other stocks in the sector have increased. "Some critics suggest that Sinclair management is more interested in advancing its partisan political views than in protecting shareholder value. They say Sinclair's partisan agenda also risks alienating viewers, advertisers and regulators," Hevesi wrote. October 19, 2004 Sinclair fires critic of plan to air movie WASHINGTON -- The Washington bureau chief of Sinclair Broadcast Group was fired yesterday after accusing the media company of ''indefensible" conduct for planning to air a movie attacking Senator John F. Kerry's Vietnam record in the coming days. Jon Lieberman, who also was the lead political reporter for the 62-station chain, told CNN last night that he was terminated for his criticism, quoted in yesterday's Baltimore Sun. October 19, 2004 An Impeachable Offense The 9/11 Secret in the CIA's Back Pocket It is shocking: The Bush administration is suppressing a CIA report on 9/11 until after the election, and this one names names. Although the report by the inspector general's office of the CIA was completed in June, it has not been made available to the congressional intelligence committees that mandated the study almost two years ago.. By law, the only legitimate reason the CIA director has for holding back such a report is national security. Yet neither Goss nor McLaughlin has invoked national security as an explanation for not delivering the report to Congress. October 17, 2004 By the thousands, soldiers 50 and older are being deployed Thomas is among a group of soldiers age 50 and over being called to active duty . Like many, he is a "citizen soldier," a member of the National Guard or Reserves, where soldiers serve part-time. They tend to be older than their active-duty counterparts and are increasingly being deployed overseas to augment active-duty troops. Of the 160,000 men and women deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, 4,119 are 50 or older. At a time in life when most people are looking forward to retirement or eyeing Florida real estate, these soldiers are leaving behind corporate jobs and grandkids. Some even voluntarily postpone military retirement to go to war. October 16, 2004 [updated Oct. 17] Scowcroft: Bush Acted Contemptuously Toward NATO and Europe WASHINGTON (AP) — The national security adviser under the first President Bush says the current president acted contemptuously toward NATO and Europe after Sept. 11 and is trying to cooperate now out of desperation to "rescue a failing venture" in Iraq and Afghanistan. Brent Scowcroft, a mentor to the current national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, also said in an interview published in England that Bush is inordinately influenced by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. "Sharon just has him wrapped around his little finger," Scowcroft told London's Financial Times. October 18, 2004 General Reported Shortages In Iraq The top U.S. commander in Iraq complained to the Pentagon last winter that his supply situation was so poor that it threatened Army troops' ability to fight, according to an official document that has surfaced only now. The lack of key spare parts for gear vital to combat operations, such as tanks and helicopters, was causing problems so severe, Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez wrote in a letter to top Army officials, that "I cannot continue to support sustained combat operations with rates this low." October 13, 2004 Bush Policies 'Fuel Violence', Say 500 U.S. Scholars WASHINGTON, Oct 13 (IPS) - The Bush administration's failure to accept advice on Iraq from its military and foreign service officers has led to policies that have fuelled the insurgency against U.S.-led forces in the occupied nation, says a letter signed by some 500 national-security specialists. Released Tuesday by a group called Security Scholars for a Sensible Foreign Policy (S3FP), the letter calls the 2003 invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq the United States' "most misguided" policy since the Vietnam War. [includes an open letter to the American People] October 15, 2004 U.S. Reputation Goes Downhill In Worldwide Polls LONDON -- America's reputation around the world is hurting, according to a series of coordinated polls published Friday from 10 countries, including many of the United States' closest allies. In eight of the countries where the surveys commissioned by major newspapers were conducted, more people said their view of America had worsened in the past two to three years than improved. That question was asked in nine countries. By big margins, those questioned said the war in Iraq did not aid the global fight against terrorism. October 14, 2004 Some 28 U.S. Soldiers Suspected in Deaths in Afghan Abuse WASHINGTON, Oct 14 (MASNET & News Agencies) - The U.S. military is investigating 28 soldiers over the deaths in 2002 of two detainees in American custody in Afghanistan, the U.S. Army said. Some could face charges of involuntary manslaughter, a spokeswoman said, giving details of the inquiry carried out as the U.S. military carries out court-martials over the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal in Iraq, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP). October 14, 2004 Registration Fraud: Oregon Oregon's attorney general opened a criminal investigation Wednesday into allegations that Democratic voter registration forms were destroyed or discarded by a political consulting firm working for the Republican National Committee. The allegations involve a voter registration drive conducted by Sproul & Associates, a Phoenix-based consulting organization that was hired by the RNC earlier this year and is headed up by the former executive director of the Arizona Republican Committee, Nathan Sproul. October 14, 2004 Registration Fraud: Nevada In the KLAS report, a former employee of Voter Outreach, Eric Russell, alleged that he saw a supervisor destroy forms collected from Democratic voters. KLAS quoted Russell as saying that "we caught her taking Democrats out of my pile, handed them to her assistant, and he ripped them up right in front of us." CNN could not reach Russell for comment. October 12, 2004 GOP Election Fraud: South Dakota Bill Janklow's commenting on the resignation of six people connected with the state Republican Party over absentee ballot applications. The former governor and congressman says the national GOP is encouraging campaign workers to cheat. He says his ire is directed at the Republican Party's Victory operation, which helps register people and get them to the polls. October 19, 2004 GOP Election Fraud: New Hampshire Today we hear news that Charles McGee, the former executive director of the New Hampshire Republican State Committee, and Allen Raymond, a GOP consultant, pleaded guilty to federal charges stemming from their involvement in the jamming of telephones on Election Day, Nov. 5, 2002. Democrats' computer-generated calls to get out the vote were blocked and thus voters did not receive the intended message due to illegal action by some in the Republican Party. October 12, 2004 Sinclair to air a one-hour conservative diatribe (MN) - If the stunt that Sinclair Broadcasting Group is pulling isn't against the law, it ought to be. Sinclair, owner of more American television stations than any other company, has ordered all 62 of its holdings - which collectively reach a quarter of American households - to suspend normal programming for one evening just before the upcoming presidential election. The stations are instead to air a one-hour conservative diatribe against Sen. John Kerry. This is a flagrant and cynical abuse of the public's airwaves for a partisan political purpose, an action that should put Sinclair's federal broadcast licenses in jeopardy. October 11, 2004 US scientists, angered by Bush policies, side with Kerry WASHINGTON - Prominent US scientists, including several Nobel laureates, have taken Senator John Kerry's side in the country's presidential campaign, blasting President George W. Bush for his opposition to stem cell research and his environmental record. Some 5,000 researchers and engineers joined 48 Nobel laureates in a June letter accusing the Bush administration of ignoring 'unbiased scientific advice in the policymaking that is so important to our collective welfare.' |