AIG Officials Should Be Indicted And Put On Trial. The Books Should Be Spread Open To The Public Like The Guts Of A Palin Moose Kill!
AND
Secret Bush Memos Released: Read Them Here!
http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/documents/olc-memos.htm
1.) Memorandum Regarding Status of Certain OLC Opinions Issued in the Aftermath of the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001 (01-15-2009)
2.) Memorandum Regarding Constitutionality of Amending Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to Change the "Purpose" Standard for Searches (09-25-2001)
3.) Memorandum Regarding Authority for Use of Military Force to Combat Terrorist Activities within the United States (10-23-2001)
4.) Memorandum Regarding Authority of the President to Suspend Certain Provisions of the ABM Treaty (11-15-2001)
5.) Memorandum Regarding the President's Power as Commander in Chief to Transfer Captured Terrorists to the Control and Custody of Foreign Nations (03-13-2002)
6.) Memorandum Regarding Swift Justice Authorization Act (04-08-2002)
7.) Memorandum Regarding Determination of Enemy Belligerency and Military Detention (06-08-2002)
8.) Memorandum Regarding Applicability of 18 U.S.C. § 4001(a) to Military Detention of United States Citizens (06-27-2002)
9.) Memorandum Regarding October 23, 2001 OLC Opinion Addressing the Domestic Use of Military Force to Combat Terrorist Activities (10-06-2008)
"The action I am taking is no more than a radical measure to hasten the explosion of truth and justice. I have but one passion: to enlighten those who have been kept in the dark, in the name of humanity which has suffered so much and is entitled to happiness. My fiery protest is simply the cry of my very soul. Let them dare, then,
to bring me before a court of law and let the enquiry take place in
broad daylight!"
- Emile Zola, J'accuse! (1898) –
“If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude
than the animating contest of freedom, — go from us in peace. We ask
not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed
you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget
that ye were our countrymen!”
-Sam Adams-
Leahy Announces List of Witnesses For 'Truth Commission' Hearing
The Public Record - Los Angeles,California,USA
Pelosi, who refused to hold impeachment hearings when George W. Bush was President, signaled that she now prefers a proposal by House Judiciary Committee ...
See all stories on this topic
THERE IS SERIOUS WORK TO BE DONE, SERIOUS ACTION TO BE TAKEN
Join the Call For A Special Prosecutor To Bring Former High American Officials To Justice For Acts Of Torture, Constitutional Violations And War Crimes.
Full Impeach, Indict, And Prosecute Posting:
Senate To Investigate CIA's Actions Under Bush
AIG Officials Should Be Indicted And Put On Trial. The Books Should Be Spread Open To The Public Like The Guts Of A Palin Moose Kill!
I have had to censor my own words on this matter. This is simply incredible. They might just as well hold a nationally televised press conference and say: “Fork over your money America; we’re criminals entitled to steal every f%#*&@g dime we can get our hands on…it’s the American way!”
Bailout Update: AIG Sues United States!
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123595759968105885.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
Sweet shit in a bucket! In follow up news to my earlier post about giving AIG yet another bailout, AIG is suing us!
The insurer filed the lawsuit on Friday because of a dispute with the IRS over $306 million in taxes, interest and penalties. An AIG spokesperson explained, "AIG is taking this action to ensure that it is not required to pay more than its fair share of taxes."
Of course, that means we (the taxpayer) get to pay for their lawyers, and IRS's lawyers, and then whatever the outcome we will be either paying for or failing to obtain the disputed money.
It's MADNESS!
AIG sues U.S. over tax dispute . . . talk about cojones
http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2009/03/02/aig-sues-u-s-over-tax-disupte-talk-about-cajones/
Sermon From The Corporate Church By Peter Chamberlin « Dandelion Salad
By dandelionsalad
Playing The Banking Game: How Cash-Starved States Can Create Their Own Credit by Dr. Ellen Brown · “The Last Picture Show”: President Barack Obama’s Fiscal Year 2009 Budget by Richard C. Cook · Addiction to War, Cindy Sheehan interviews ...
Dandelion Salad - http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/
http://www.toomuchonline.org/tmweekly.html
A USA Today/Gallup poll in February found that 62 percent of Americans favor a criminal investigation or an independent panel to look into the use of torture, illegal wiretapping, and other alleged abuses of power by the Bush administration. But that idea has been dismissed by many as politically infeasible. And President Obama has said he was “more interested in looking forward than I am in looking backwards.”
Still, that hasn’t deterred Sen. Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, from calling for a “truth commission” and scheduling a hearing on the issue this Wednesday. Already, Rep. John Conyers Jr., chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, has introduced a bill to set up an inquiry panel.
Should Congress create a truth commission? Or is it time to move on?
On second thought, indict the S.O.B. | Capitol Hill Blue
By Editor
Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy (Vermont) is attempting to get enough signatures on a petition to pursue the investigation, and hopefully, prosecution, of Heir Bush, Darth Cheney and the rest of their SS cabal. I would suggest each of you visit Sen. ... Who knows what is in the back room deals? Pelosi has said since 2004 Impeachment (as well as prosecution?) was off the table. Obama has said he will not pursue any charges against Bush. The blazing question is, why? ...
Capitol Hill Blue - - http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/
Remarks as Prepared for Delivery by Attorney General Eric Holder at the Jewish Council for Public Affairs Plenum
Mon Mar 2, 12:49 pm ET
To: NATIONAL EDITORS
Contact: U.S. Department of Justice, +1-202-514-2007, +1-202-514-1888 (TDD)
WASHINGTON, March 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following are remarks as prepared for delivery by Attorney General Eric Holder:
Good morning and thank you for inviting me to join you today. It's a pleasure to be here among friends.
For more than 60 years, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs and its partner agencies have worked to build a more just society. But what's more, JCPA has played a vital role in promoting an interfaith policy dialogue. I applaud the work done by the JCPA to further that dialogue, to engage the public in constructive interfaith discourse, and to always -- always -- seek justice.
It's a special privilege for me to lead the Department of Justice at this moment in its history. My Department has many goals to which we aspire. However, nothing is more important to me than defending our nation and its citizens from acts of terrorism, and ensuring that our government abides by the letter and the spirit of our Constitution.
Some see a tension between these two goals. I - most emphatically - do not. As President Obama said in his inaugural address, there is no contradiction between our safety and our ideals. He correctly characterized it as a "false choice." Yes, we must do everything in our power to thwart the evil aims of those who would do us harm. But we must do so in a manner that preserves, protects, and defends the rights that are enshrined in our Constitution, and the rule of law itself.
There is no reason we cannot wage an effective fight against those who have sworn to harm us while we respect our most honored constitutional traditions. We can never put the welfare of the American people at risk but we can also never choose actions that we know will weaken the legal and moral fiber of our nation.
The rule of law is not, as some have seen it, an obstacle to be overcome, but the very foundation of our nation. It is the rule of law that has held us together despite our differences, while other nations have faltered, and it is the rule of law that has made the United States a beacon to the world, a nation that others aspire to emulate.
This is not to say that we have never strayed from our ideals - but we have always returned to them quickly. Some of our greatest presidents, including Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt, made decisions in the midst of crisis that history has judged harshly. But the measure of our greatness as a nation is that we have always quickly righted our missteps, reevaluated our judgments, and corrected our policies.
During the Civil War, President Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus on eight separate occasions. By the end of the war, Lincoln had suspended the writ throughout the entire United States and authorized his military commanders to detain and imprison any person who was guilty of any "disloyal act or practice."
During World War II, in the months after Pearl Harbor, almost 120,000 individuals of Japanese descent, two-thirds of whom were American citizens, were ordered to leave their homes in California, Washington, Oregon, and Arizona and told to report to detention camps in which they were confined for some three years, surrounded by barbed wire and military police. No charges were ever brought against these men, women, and children. There were no hearings, no findings of sabotage, espionage, or disloyalty. They were ordered to bring only what they could carry. Most families lost everything, most importantly, their liberty.
Although the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the internment order, rejecting the proposition that it was infected by "racial prejudice," this decision has come to be regarded as a dark moment in American constitutional history. In a courageous dissenting opinion, Justice Frank Murphy described the Court's decision in Korematsu as the "legalization of racism." I do not relate this history in order to criticize, but because it can inform our understanding of the present and the challenges we currently face.
Once again, we are at a crucial juncture in the history of our country. We face a grave threat in the form of an enemy so bent on our destruction that they are willing to sacrifice their own lives in order to take the lives of innocent civilians. Accordingly, since September 11, 2001, there have been many changes made to the way our country seeks to protect itself, and we will continue to explore new ways to keep our fellow citizens safe from harm. But we will ensure that all of the measures we take - new and old - are consistent with the principles and values that have made our nation strong for more than 200 years.
There is no doubt that the challenges before us are extraordinary. But we will not be ruled by fear. We will face the challenges before us without diminishing our respect for the rule of law. We will guard our rights and freedoms while protecting our national security, and by doing so repair our standing in the world and regain the trust of our friends and allies.
As you know, within days of taking the oath of office, President Obama signed several executive orders related to the treatment of detainees and enemy combatants. The first of these executive orders calls for an immediate review of the status of all individuals currently being held at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base and orders the closure of that facility within one year.
This order establishes an interagency task force across all relevant Departments including our government's foremost military and security experts to assemble and examine relevant information, and to make recommendations regarding the proper disposition for each individual currently detained at Guantanamo Bay, including, in some cases, prosecution or transfer consistent with our national security and foreign policy interests.
Last week, I visited Guantanamo Bay and toured the facility. My trip reinforced my belief that while closing the detention center will be no easy task, it is one that must be done. The closure of Guantanamo has come to symbolize - to our citizens and to our global partners - the depth of our commitment to the rule of law. This is why President Obama and I believe that ultimately, closing Guantanamo will make us safer and stronger.
The review process begun by the President's executive order is already underway. Early last week, the interagency panel reviewed the case of Binyam Mohammed and determined that his transfer, pursuant to an arrangement between the United States and the United Kingdom, was consistent with the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States and in the interests of Justice.
The President also ordered an interagency task force to consider the detention of Ali al-Marri. And as many of you know, on Friday, a federal grand jury in the Central District of Illinois returned a two-count indictment charging al-Marri with providing material support to al-Qaeda and conspiring with others to provide material support to al-Qaeda. As I said then, the Department of Justice is resolved to protect the American people in a manner consistent with our values and to prosecute alleged terrorists to the full extent of the law. The President has made it clear - and I couldn't agree with him more strongly - that we will hold accountable anyone who attempts to harm Americans.
Another of the President's national security executive orders employs an interagency task force to study options for managing the custody of individuals apprehended in connection with terrorist activities. It is our responsibility to find a solution to this issue that employs the rule of law instead of circumventing it. In developing this solution, the task force will engage Members of Congress, the military, the intelligence community, and others who share the interest of confronting this challenge.
In the process of implementing these executive orders and formulating our policy priorities, the Department of Justice is examining all of our anti-terrorism policies to help define how we confront global terrorism in the years to come. We are certain that there is room for improvement, and we are committed to ensuring that we create a system that is strongly rooted in American values.
While many practices will be subject to review under these executive orders, one in particular will not.
As I unequivocally stated in my confirmation hearing before theU.S. Senate, waterboarding is torture. My Justice Department will not justify it, rationalize it, or condone it.
The sanction of torture is at odds with the history of American jurisprudence and American principles. It undermines our ability to pursue justice fairly, and it puts our own brave soldiers in peril should they ever be captured on a foreign battlefield.
Some have compared the Cold War - which President Kennedy called "our long twilight struggle" - to our current struggle against terrorism. In many ways, this is an apt comparison. The Cold War did not end on a traditional battlefield, and neither will our fight against terrorism. But the comparison is even more compelling because both struggles are ones in which values - ideals and morals - are as important as military strength. As the President has made clear, winning the war on terrorism requires winning the hearts and minds of people around the world.
Engaging those hearts and minds is dependent upon our ability to show the world that the United States will once again be a force for positive change in the lives of people across the globe. We must accomplish that goal by setting an example with our ideals, and by rebuilding our partnerships with our allies. We cannot ask other nations to stand by us in a pursuit of justice if we are not viewed as being in pursuit of that ideal ourselves.
I have no doubt that our devotion to this country's founding principles - and to the rule of law - are strong enough to withstand the challenges we face, as they have withstood so many challenges before. History teaches us that the rule of law and our stature in the world are inextricably linked. From the trials at Nuremburg to our victory in the Cold War, our respect for the rule of law has been a powerful tool for promoting our national interest on the international stage. To continue our leading role on that stage, we must adhere to our country's core principles and to its most treasured values. This is our nation's challenge.
Too often over the past decade, the fight against terrorism has been viewed as a zero-sum battle with our civil liberties. Not only is that school of thought misguided, I fear that in actuality it does more harm than good. I have often said that the test of a great nation is whether it will adhere to its core values not only when it is easy, but also when it is hard. Well, ladies and gentlemen, I have every confidence that we will pass that test. With the support and guidance of Americans like you, no difficulties, no challenges, and no hurdles will deter us from our solemn responsibility to protect our people while we also protect our principles.
Thank you very much.
SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice
Karl Rove Owned By Katrina Vanden Heuvel
Bush's secret memos out in the open by Obama
These memos just confirm what everyone already thought and knew about the Bush Administration.
The Justice Department on Monday released a long-secret legal document from 2001 in which the Bush administration claimed the military could search and seize terror suspects in the United States without warrants.
The legal memo was written about a month after the Sept. 11 terror attacks. It says constitutional protections against unlawful search and seizure would not apply to terror suspects in the U.S., as long as the president or another high official authorized the action.
Even after the Bush administration rescinded that legal analysis, the Justice Department refused to release its contents, prompting a standoff with congressional Democrats.
The memo was one of nine released Monday by the Obama administration.
Another memo showed that, within two weeks of Sept. 11, the administration was contemplating ways to use wiretaps without getting warrants.
The author of the search and seizure memo, John Yoo, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
In that memo, Yoo wrote that the president could treat terrorist suspects in the United States like an invading foreign army. For instance, he said, the military would not have to get a warrant to storm a building to prevent terrorists from detonating a bomb.
Yoo also suggested that the government could put new restrictions on the press and speech, without spelling out what those might be. read more here....
More Secrets Revealed: Bush Sought To Illegally Wiretap Americans ...
By Logan Murphy
The violations of the Constitution by Bush administration strike at the foundation of democracy. The fact that Congress abrogated it's responsibility and did not investigate and take action (censure,impeachment, etc.) puts our future at risk. ... Cheney was behind this, you just know he was. He was convinced since the Nixon days that a president should have more power. Once he got another shot in the white house, he was intent on making that happen. ...Crooks and Liars - http://crooksandliars.com/
Government Releases Anti-Terror Documents, Says 92 Prison Videos Destroyed
By Keith Perine and Tim Starks, CQ Staff
The Obama administration shed more light Monday on terrorist-fighting practices of the recent past.
One government agency acknowledged destroying videotapes of prisoner interrogations. Another agency revealed more of the legal foundation used by the Bush administration to justify policies fashioned in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The Justice Department released seven memoranda from 2001 and 2002 on Bush policies ranging from the detention of terror suspects to surveillance to domestic military operations.
The documents are from the department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), which provides binding legal advice to the rest of the executive branch.
“It is my goal to make OLC opinions available when possible while still protecting national security information and ensuring robust internal executive branch debate and decision-making,” Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr. said.
The department also released more recent OLC documents that criticized some of the earlier memos and rolled back parts of them. But it stopped well short of providing everything sought by congressional Democrats and civil liberties groups.
‘Enhanced’ Interrogation
Separately, in court documents, the Central Intelligence Agency acknowledged destroying 92 videotapes of detainees being submitted to “enhanced” interrogation tactics decried by critics as torture.
The acknowledgement came in an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit seeking records on the treatment of prisoners in U.S. custody abroad.
The CIA said the 92 tapes are not the same as those discussed in an earlier court filing in the case of convicted terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui.
“We never said publicly how many tapes from the agency’s detention program were destroyed, so it’s wrong for people to claim the figure is higher than before,” said Paul Gimigliano, a CIA spokesman.
Both the House and Senate Intelligence committees have ongoing investigations into the destruction of the tapes. John Durham, the acting U.S. attorney in Connecticut, is leading the Justice Department’s criminal probe.
Document Details
Among the documents released Monday by the attorney general:
• A Jan. 15, 2009 memo by then-OLC head Steven G. Bradbury said “certain propositions” contained in some of the old memos “do not reflect the current views of OLC.”
• An October 2008 memo by Bradbury criticized several aspects of an Oct. 23, 2001 memo on the constitutionality of military counter-terrorism operations in the United States. The 2001 memo had concluded that the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures did not apply to military counter-terrorism operations in the United States and argued that “First Amendment speech and press rights may also be subordinated to the overriding need to wage war successfully.”
• A March 13, 2002 memo argued that the international convention against torture did not act as a limit on renditions of prisoners detained outside of American territory.
Last September, the Senate Judiciary Committee subpoenaed Holder’s predecessor,Michael B. Mukasey , for all such memos. Mukasey handed over two memos, and made six others available for review at the Justice Department.
In December, Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick J. Leahy , blasted Mukasey’s response as stonewalling. But on Monday, the Vermont Democrat praised Holder’s “policy of greater transparency at the Department of Justice.”
While television's torture freak, Jack Bauer, tormented a suspect inside the White House last night, the real-life White House further undermined the last administration's Bauer-like fondness for "enhanced interrogations."
Now that's what we might call juxtaposition. Plenty of Americans still agree with the FOX "24" star's passionate defense of torture to save lives. When an anti-torture senator yelled at Bauer in Monday's episode, he yelled back, "You sir are weak! Unable to look evil in the eye and deal with it!"
Back in the real world on the same day the Obama Administration struck a blow against past torture policy by releasing secret Bush-era memos showing that, among other things, the CIA destroyed nearly 100 videotapes of interrogations and other treatment of terror suspects.
Darn, that could have been our chance to see what a real-life Bauer looks like.
THE END OF ELITE LIBERAL MEDIA EMPIRES AND RISE OF CITIZEN JOURNALISM
This is the text of a talk by Chris Hedges that will be read at anti-war gatherings to be held by The World Can't Wait in New York's Union Square, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Nashville, Louisville, Chicago and Berkeley on March 19 to protest the sixth anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq…
SUSAN LINDAUER REVEALS FACTS ABOUT 9/11 WARNING
Former Accused Iraqi Agent Reveals Facts about 9/11 Warning
By Michael Collins
I first wrote about Susan Lindauer's struggle against the Bush-Cheney regime in October 2007, "American Cassandra: Susan Lindauer's Story." This was initially published in "Scoop" Independent Media (complete series) and carried by a wide variety of concerned Internet news sites and blogs. This interview follows the full dismissal of charges against her just before President Obama's inauguration on January 20, 2009 . This is the first in depth interview that Lindauer has offered regarding 911. Below is part one of the interview…
Will Your Hometown Newspaper Still Be Around in 6 Months?
