10.31.05
Posted in SSquirrel at 11:05 pm by SSquirrel
ROBERT H. REID ~AP
Capping the bloodiest month for American troops since January, the U.S. military reported Monday that seven more U.S. service members were killed — all victims of increasingly sophisticated bombs that have been become the deadliest weapon in the insurgents’ arsenal.
Bombs also claimed a toll Monday among civilians in Basra, Iraq’s second-largest city and the major metropolis of the Shiite-dominated south, which has witnessed less violence than Sunni areas. A large car bomb exploded along a bustling street packed with shops and restaurants as people were enjoying an evening out after the daily Ramadan fast. At least 20 were killed and about 40 wounded, police Lt. Col. Karim al-Zaidi said.
Last Friday, an IED killed Col. William W. Wood, 44, of Panama City, Fla., an infantry battalion commander. He was promoted posthumously, making him the highest-ranking soldier killed in action in the Iraq conflict, according to the Pentagon.
Monday’s deadliest attack against U.S. service members came in an area known as the “triangle of death.” Four soldiers from the U.S. Army’s Task Force Baghdad died when their patrol struck a roadside bomb in Youssifiyah, 12 miles south of Baghdad.
Two other soldiers from the Army’s 29th Brigade Combat Team were also killed in a bombing Monday near Balad, 50 miles north of the capital. The U.S. military also reported that a Marine died the day before in a roadside bombing near Amiriyah, an insurgent hotspot 25 miles west of Baghdad.
The U.S. military death toll for October is now at least 92, the highest monthly total since January, when 106 American service members died — more than 30 of them in a helicopter crash that was ruled an accident. Only during two other months since the war began has the U.S. military seen a higher toll: in November 2004, when 137 Americans died, and in April 2004, when 135 died.
The latest deaths brought to 2,025 the number of U.S. service members who have died since the Iraq war began in March 2003. The number includes five military civilians.
The ongoing violence has killed a far greater number of Iraqis.
Public safety has deteriorated in recent months in Basra largely because of feuding among rival Shiite extremist groups that have infiltrated the police and security services. The city had previously been much more peaceful than Baghdad or cities within the volatile central, northern and western areas of the country where the Sunni Arab-led insurgency rages.
Earlier Monday near the Syrian border, Marines backed by jets attacked insurgent targets in a cluster of towns and villages near the Syrian border. The raid was part of an ongoing operation in an area believed heavily infiltrated by al-Qaida in Iraq and foreign fighters.
A Marine statement said U.S. aircraft fired precision weapons, destroying two safe houses believed used by al-Qaida figures. The statement made no mention of casualties, but Associated Press Television News video from the scene showed residents wailing over the bodies of about six people, including at least three children.
At the local hospital, Dr. Ahmed al-Ani claimed 40 Iraqis, including 12 children, were killed in the attack. But the claim could not be independently verified, and figures from the area have sometimes proven exaggerated.
The footage from the scene showed Iraqi men digging through the rubble of several destroyed concrete buildings with a pitchfork or their hands. In the building of a nearby home, women wept over about half a dozen blanket-covered bodies lined up on a floor. Some of the blankets were opened for the camera showing a man and three children.
“At least 20 innocent people were killed by the U.S. warplanes. Why are the Americans killing families? Where are the insurgents?” one middle-aged man told APTN. “We don’t see democracy. We just see destruction.”
How much blood must be shed for Little George’s fantasy of leadership? How many more children will be torn apart so that the Repugnant party can claim to be strong on defense? How long will we allow Osama bin-Laden be allowed to run free? When are the American people going to stand up and say “Why are we the the number one arms dealer in the world?”. Or at least why we allow oil companies to encourage volatility by reducing refining capacity, reducing reserves, and buying politicians to look the other way? You’re paying a dollar a gallon more because of supply fears, and I wonder what the source of those fears are? Maybe instability in Iraq? Wanna guess what the most stable middle east country was? People are dying needlessly, our sons and daughters are being scared for life, not just by bombs, but by what they have to do to stay alive. Do you really think it’s easy to drop bombs on women and children? To live the rest of your life with that? And if the sheer human toll isn’t enough to offend you to the core of your soul, maybe the next time you think about voting for a repugnican, maybe you could look at your Visa bill and add up the gasoline bills?
S(tupid)Squirrel
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Posted in SSquirrel at 4:38 am by SSquirrel
Monday Music
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Posted in SSquirrel at 4:29 am by SSquirrel
JIM KRANE ~AP
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Saddam Hussein accepted an 11th-hour offer to flee into exile weeks ahead of the U.S.-led 2003 invasion, but Arab League officials scuttled the proposal, officials in this Gulf state claimed.
The exile initiative was spearheaded by the late president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheik Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, at an emergency Arab summit held in Egypt in February 2003, Sheik Zayed’s son said in an interview aired by Al-Arabiya TV during a documentary. The U.S.-led coalition invaded on March 19 that year.
A top government official confirmed the offer on Saturday, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
The documentary also included an interview from Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak, who said the United States was aware of the proposal.
One country that came up in the exile discussions was Belarus, but the Emirates official said some governments balked at offering sanctuary to Saddam’s notorious sons, Odai and Qusai. Both sons were killed during the war.
Almost all the Arab League’s member states are Sunni Muslim-majority nations and the pan-Arab body has kept Iraq at arm’s length since the U.S.-led invasion, which most of its members opposed.
“It was right there on the mountain where the map said it would be…”
S(lash)Squirrel 
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Posted in SSquirrel at 4:25 am by SSquirrel
Al Kamen
Since Fitzgerald’s report did not name the unindicted, reporters scrambled Friday to identify the “undersecretary of state” who reported to Libby that CIA operative Valerie Plame was involved in sending her husband, Joseph C. Wilson IV , to Niger to check out Iraqi efforts to obtain uranium.
An adroit aide to U.N. Ambassador John R. Bolton took the initiative to inform reporters it was not Bolton. A good idea, since most reporters had speculated it was likely Bolton. The aide circulated an Associated Press story suggesting, correctly, that it was probably Marc Grossman, undersecretary for political affairs until early this year.
Merit raise in order?
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Posted in SSquirrel at 4:02 am by SSquirrel
Rob Kall
OpEdNews.com
Agence France Press reports that Saddam was, for purposes of revenge for a rape by his son, held prisoner by the Kurds then drugged and stashed, as a prisoner, in a “spider hole” he couldn’t escape from. It is logical to assume that the Kurds cut a deal for handing Saddam over to the US, and that the Kurds had reasons for leaving him with a stash of hundreds of thousands of dollars, two AK-47 machine guns and documents in a briefcase with a lot of names.
The cash was a way to prove that it was the real Saddam. Who else would be wandering around Iraq with that kind of money. Besides, they were expecting, or perhaps, had already received the $25 million or more, if they smart enough to demand it, from the desperate-for good news Bush administration.
The weapons were, perhaps a temptation, which if Saddam had chosen to use them, would surely have led to his instant death. They were also a nice touch for distracting the world from the fact that he was, in spite of the weapons (and no-one ever said they were loaded) a prisoner. They were further camouflage. And then we get to the documents in the briefcase. That’s where it gets very interesting.
Now that the world is coming around to the realization that the US military did not perform some miraculous capture, the next step is to ask some questions.
How much of a reward did the US pay the Kurds for the capture and delivery of Saddam?
What spurious information did the Kurds put in the notebook, so the US would act to do the dirty work of picking up Baathists and former Baathists who the Kurds would like to have out of the way, or who the Kurds would like to seek revenge against?
Of course one of the ingredients in the Iraqi quagmire has been the very touchy balance of power between the Kurds, the rest of the Iraqi peoples and the Turks. Australia’s THE AGE newspaper reports “Saddam came into the hands of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK.)” It doesn’t talk about Kurds, but a Kurdish state. Except, that state does not officially exist. It’s a dream of the Kurds in Northern Iraq, and a nightmare for Turks
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Posted in SSquirrel at 4:01 am by SSquirrel
When you assume…
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Posted in SSquirrel at 3:51 am by SSquirrel
Mick
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Posted in SSquirrel at 3:40 am by SSquirrel
Dana Milbank and Carol D. Leonnig ~WaPo
(Guess Daniela Deane got rolled)
Rove’s attorney provided Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald with a last-minute flurry of material and evidence supporting Rove’s contention that he simply forgot his conversation about Wilson’s wife with Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper — rather than lied about it, according to people close to Rove. The sources said it gave Fitzgerald “pause” about his earlier intentions to charge Rove with false statements to the FBI, and he agreed to continue investigating.
But two legal sources intimately familiar with Fitzgerald’s tactics in this inquiry said they believe Rove remains in significant danger. They described Fitzgerald as being relentlessly thorough but also conservative throughout this prosecution — and his willingness to consider Rove’s eleventh-hour pleading of a memory lapse is merely a sign of Fitzgerald’s caution.
The two legal sources point to what they consider Fitzgerald’s careful decision not to charge Libby with the leak of a covert agent’s identity, given that the prosecutor had amassed considerable evidence that Libby gave classified information, which he knew from his job should not be made public, to reporters. Another prosecutor might have stretched to make a leak charge, on the theory that a jury would believe, based on other actions, that Libby acted with bad intentions.
Another warning sign for Rove was in the phrasing of Friday’s indictment of Libby. Fitzgerald referred to Rove in those charging papers as a senior White House official and dubbed him “Official A.” In prosecutorial parlance, this kind of awkward pseudonym is often used for individuals who have not been indicted in a case but still face a significant chance of being charged. No other official in the investigation carries such an identifier.
“and in the tunnels uptown, the rat’s own dream guns him down…”
S(pringsteen)Squirrel
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Posted in SSquirrel at 3:18 am by SSquirrel
Daniela Deane ~WaPo
The leader of the Senate Democrats today called for White House chief political strategist Karl Rove to resign, saying it’s time for President Bush to “come clean” with the American people about the administration’s role in the disclosure of a CIA operative’s name.
Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), speaking on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” said both Bush and Vice President Cheney owe an apology to the American public.
“I think Karl Rove should step down,” Reid said about the White House deputy chief of staff. “Here is a man who the president said if he was involved, if anyone in the administration was involved, out they would go. Anybody who is involved in this, they’re gone.”
Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.), speaking on “Fox News Sunday,” urged the president to make changes in his staff but did not explicitly call for the dismissal of Rove. He said the president’s chief strategist should decide for himself if he is a distraction to the administration.
But Lott said Bush “should always be looking for new blood, new energy. I’m not talking about wholesale changes, but you ought to reach out.”
Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), speaking on the same show, said he agreed that Bush should shake up his staff “but that’s really the president’s call.”
He also said Libby’s indictment raises questions about what Cheney knew of the efforts to discredit Wilson and to reveal his wife’s covert CIA status. “It seems to me that the vice president has an obligation to come forward,” he said.
“Sometimes the poets out here don’t write nuthin’ at all, they just stand back and let it all be…”
Jungleland
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Posted in SSquirrel at 3:17 am by SSquirrel
DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK ~NYT
With the announcement of a new Supreme Court nominee expected as early as Monday, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader, warned President Bush on Sunday not to pick one of the candidates said to be on the president’s short list, Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr.
“I think it would create a lot of problems,” Mr. Reid
Republicans close to the selection process said over the weekend that as Mr. Bush neared a final decision, Judge Alito, of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, remained a leading candidate, along with Judge J. Michael Luttig of the Fourth Circuit, Judge Alice M. Batchelder of the Sixth Circuit, and Judge Priscilla R. Owen of the Fifth Circuit.
Open up the envelope…Open up the envelope…and the question is…
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10.30.05
Posted in SSquirrel at 7:04 pm by SSquirrel
The Fix
Michigan — Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D): Granholm faces two major challenges in her quest for reelection. First, she must find a way to explain the dismal state of the Michigan economy to voters. Second, she must contend with billionaire Dick DeVos, the former president of Amway. Rumors are flying fast and furious that DeVos will spend upward of $60 million from his own pocket in the race; Granholm will be lucky to raise and spend half of that. All is not lost for Granholm. A recent independent poll showed that 39 percent of voters blamed President Bush for the sluggish economy; 24 percent blamed Granholm. DeVos is also an untested candidate and wealthy businessmen do not have the best record of success when their first run is for statewide office. Still, this is one to watch.
…
Ohio — OPEN: Gov. Bob Taft (R) is term-limited. A perfect storm seems to be forming in Ohio that threatens to wash away Republicans’ long hold on the statehouse. Taft is easily the least popular governor in the country (15 percent job approval in a poll last month), and his taint is trickling down to the candidates running to replace him. All three are current statewide officeholders and, therefore, are not in the best position to distance themselves from Taft. Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell seems the frontrunner for the GOP nomination, but at this point it may not be worth having. Rep. Ted Strickland is the Democrats’ frontrunner but is being challenged in the primary by Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman. This is the Democrats’ race to lose.
DeVos is a seriously crazy wing nut. He’s gonna need sixty mill to peddle his amway ass in Michigan. Granholm is too nice for her own good. She got to start denouncing the repug controlled legislature for not doing enough to support schools and create jobs. Not to mention what little George has done to the economy.
S(en.)Squirrel
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Posted in SSquirrel at 6:25 pm by SSquirrel
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Posted in SSquirrel at 3:27 pm by SSquirrel
Amanda Marcotte ~Pandagon
Amanda is brilliant and hilarious as she destroys Leon Kass, line by line, for his ridiculous criticism of “The Pill”
“every sentence is like a golden turd”
“Just in time for Halloween, kiddos, a horror story to end all horror stories by Leon Kass. Yes, part two of his series known commonly as “Bitch, Get Back in the Kitchen”, but what Kass would prefer us to call “The End of Courtship”. This part is about how the birth control pill actually turns into a monster in the middle of the night that crawls up men’s legs and detaches their testicles from their bodies. Oh wait, no. I’m sorry. It’s about how romance is ruined when you have the sort of sex where you can relax and enjoy it because you aren’t worried about getting pregnant. “
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10.29.05
Posted in SSquirrel at 8:29 pm by SSquirrel
worldcantwait.org
November 2, the first anniversary of Bush’s “re-election”, we will take the first major step in this by organizing a truly massive day of resistance all over this country. People everywhere will walk out of school, they will take off work, they will come to the downtowns and town squares and set out from there, going through the streets and calling on many more to JOIN US. They will repudiate this criminal regime, making a powerful statement: “NO! THIS REGIME DOES NOT REPRESENT US! AND WE WILL DRIVE IT OUT!”
ROCHESTER/AUBURN HILLS: Meet at the border of Rochester/Auburn Hills, Michigan from - 6PM - 9PM November 2nd on the southeastern corner of Walton and Squirrel near Oakland U.
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Posted in SSquirrel at 7:46 pm by SSquirrel
The Onion, after being threatened with legal action for using the White House Seal in a parody, issued this truly heartfelt apology:
S(mirking)Squirrel
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Posted in SSquirrel at 7:39 pm by SSquirrel
AP
At least seven Bush administration officials outside the CIA knew Valerie Plame was a CIA employee before the disclosure of her name in a column by Robert Novak in July 2003, according to the indictment Friday of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby.
In no case other than Libby’s does the indictment claim that one of the government employees provided the name to reporters. And the indictment does not identify anyone other than Libby.
But some are easy to determine. The “vice president of the United States” is Dick Cheney, for whom Libby worked as chief of staff. Cheney told Libby that Plame worked at the CIA.
The person referred to as “then White House press secretary” is Ari Fleischer. Libby discussed Plame’s CIA job with Fleischer, the indictment said.
A person described as “a senior official in the White House” and identified as “Official A” also talked with Novak about Plame’s job and identity a few days before his column appeared. Three people close to the investigation, each asking to remain unidentified, said this person was Karl Rove, President Bush’s political adviser.
Names of two of the others were disclosed by a Justice Department official who spoke only on condition of anonymity.
Under Secretary of State Marc Grossman also told Libby that Plame worked at the CIA, apparently in response to a request from Libby for details about a former ambassador’s trip to Niger to investigate claims that Iraq tried to buy uranium yellowcake. The ex-diplomat was Joseph Wilson, Plame’s husband.
The “assistant to the vice president for public affairs” is Catherine Martin. She learned that Plame was a CIA employee from yet another government official and advised Libby. The identity of the seventh government official remains a secret.
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10.28.05
Posted in SSquirrel at 8:54 pm by SSquirrel
I Have a Dream!
Martin Luther SSquirrel 
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Posted in SSquirrel at 5:34 am by SSquirrel
Simply Irresistable!!!
Pretty in Pink!!!
Yo Fitz!!! Where’s Our Presents!!!!!
TGIF
S(anta)Squirrel
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Posted in SSquirrel at 5:14 am by SSquirrel
bush bashing
Push little George around with your mouse and watch him get bashed. A fun way to kill time while waiting for your Fitzmas gifts.
S(anta)Squirrel
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Posted in SSquirrel at 4:50 am by SSquirrel
Administration sources also said that Cheney’s general counsel, David Addington, played a central role in the White House decision not to turn over the documents. Addington did not return phone calls seeking comment. Cheney’s office declined to comment after requesting that any questions for this article be submitted in writing.
A former senior administration official familiar with the discussions on whether to turn over the materials said there was a “political element” in the matter. This official said the White House did not want to turn over records during an election year that could used by critics to argue that the administration used incomplete or faulty intelligence to go to war with Iraq. “Nobody wants something like this dissected or coming out in an election year,” the former official said.
But some congressional sources say that had the committee received all the documents it requested from the White House the spotlight could have shifted to the heavy advocacy by Cheney’s office to go to war. Cheney had been the foremost administration advocate for war with Iraq, and Libby played a central staff role in coordinating the sale of the war to both the public and Congress.
In advocating war with Iraq, Libby was known for dismissing those within the bureaucracy who opposed him, whether at the CIA, State Department, or other agencies. Supporters say that even if Libby is charged by the grand jury in the CIA leak case, he waged less a personal campaign against Wilson and Plame than one that reflected a personal antipathy toward critics in general.
The passion that Libby brought to his cause is perhaps further illustrated by a recent Los Angeles Times report that in April 2004, months after Fitzgerald’s leak investigation was underway, Libby ordered “a meticulous catalog of Wilson’s claims and public statements going back to early 2003″ because Libby was “consumed by passages that he believed were inaccurate or unfair” to him.
The newspaper reported that the “intensity with which Libby reacted to Wilson had many senior White House staffers puzzled, and few agreed with his counterattack plan, or its rationale.”
A former administration official said that “this might have been about politics on some level, but it is also personal. [Libby] feels that his honor has been questioned, and his instinct is to strike back.”
There seems to be an awful lot of Prima Donnas in this administration, Bush of course being one of the worst. But Bolton, Rove, Libby, Cheney, Addington, all seem emotionally stunted and unable to accept any criticism. There response is to seek revenge, to strike back, like a child whose mother isn’t paying enough attention to him. But these aren’t children and that make them very dangerous. To our country and our freedoms and to basic rights we have jealously guarded for over two centuries. Congress must do something to restore faith in our government, and they need to do it now.
S(carlet)Squirrel 
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10.27.05
Posted in SSquirrel at 4:49 pm by SSquirrel
Rawstory
The Chicago-based prosecutor has obtained new information from officials targeted in the leak probe, who are now interested in entering into plea discussions, they added.
Fitzgerald intended to announce that he had secured indictments against I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, and Karl Rove, President Bush’s deputy chief of staff, Wednesday afternoon as well as two people who work outside of the administration, those close to the case said.
But his office was contacted late Tuesday by attorneys representing figures outside the White House, lawyers said, who expressed interest in entering into plea talks with the prosecutor. Several have agreed to enter into last-minute plea negotiations with Fitzgerald in exchange for providing testimony that could result in criminal charges being brought against additional officials inside the White House, they added.
Rove was offered a deal when his lawyer met with Fitzgerald Tuesday, but did not accept, the sources said. Fitzgerald has sought indictments to charge Rove with perjury and obstruction of justice, they asserted.
This is promising, if true.
S(ceptical)Squirrel
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Posted in SSquirrel at 10:36 am by SSquirrel
Cowards, come back here!
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Posted in SSquirrel at 7:13 am by SSquirrel
Carol D. Leonnig and Jim VandeHei
~WaPo
The prosecutor in the CIA leak investigation presented a summary of his case to a federal grand jury yesterday and is expected to announce a final decision on charges in the two-year-long probe tomorrow, according to people familiar with the case.
Even as Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald wrapped up his case, the legal team of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove has been engaged in a furious effort to convince the prosecutor that Rove did not commit perjury during the course of the investigation, according to people close to the aide. The sources, who indicated that the effort intensified in recent weeks, said Rove still did not know last night whether he would be indicted.
Fitzgerald is completing his probe of whether senior administration officials broke the law by disclosing the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame to the media in the summer of 2003 to discredit her husband, former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, an administration critic. The grand jury’s term will expire Friday.
But after grand jurors left the federal courthouse before noon yesterday, it was unclear whether Fitzgerald had spelled out the criminal charges he might ask them to consider, or whether he had asked them to vote on any proposed indictments. Fitzgerald’s legal team did not present the results of a grand jury vote to the court yesterday, which he is required to do within days of such a vote.
Yesterday’s three-hour grand jury session came after agents and prosecutors this week conducted last-minute interviews with Adam Levine, a member of the White House communications team at the time of the leak, about his conversations with Rove, and with Plame’s neighbors in the District.
Should he need more time to finish the investigation, Fitzgerald could seek to empanel a new group of grand jurors to consider the case. But sources familiar with the prosecutor’s work said he has indicated he is eager to avoid that route. The term of the current grand jury has been extended once and cannot be lengthened again, according to federal rules.
The tension and impatience have been ratcheted up another notch. The White House reeks of flop sweat these days. Nervous laughter and the rattle of Xanax bottles echo throughout the hallways of Washington. Media pundits schedule Clinton era “legal experts” in bunches and end up chatting about the White Sox. Fitzmas is coming and the goose passed fat a week ago. It has descended into grossly obese with occasional fits of hysterical sobbing interspersed with shreiking and the odd giggle. Or maybe that’s Karl Rove, I get them confused these days. The only thing I know for sure is that the “ladies” (though they themselves would unanimously reject the appellation) at Eschaton will be sporting exceedingly stylish and elegant footwear when Fitzmas Day at long last bears it’s lovely bosom.
S(hakespeare)Squirrel
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Posted in SSquirrel at 6:42 am by SSquirrel
TheFix ~WaPo
Along with Steele, the GOP boasts another African American Senate candidate — Rev. Keith Butler, who is seeking the GOP nomination to challenge Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D) in Michigan. Both men are favorites to be their party’s nominee. Steele will not face any serious primary opposition; Butler could face a serious primary challenge from Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard, who was in town recently to meet with officials from the National Republican Senatorial Committee. If it becomes apparent that national GOPers are seeking to push Butler to the side in favor of Bouchard, who is white, it could damage the party’s outreach efforts.
Personally I don’t see the logic of Repugs running socially conservative black candidates. Any votes they gain from black churches will be offset by reduced turnout among the Trent Lott fans. Unless the candidate is a general, an astronaut, or a division I football star I don’t see much advantage or any pickups with this strategy. Black voters recognize and reject hypocrisy and butt-kissing opportunism with even greater alacrity than other groups. They’ve been taught since childhood to repudiate them out of hand. And Rev. Butler is a hand grenade without a pin, sooner or later there is going to be a big loud bang. The Rev. has too much money in too many places to survive intense media scrutiny for long. But neither one will seriously worry Sen. Stabenow.
S(hivering)Squirrel
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Posted in SSquirrel at 5:37 am by SSquirrel
(Stolen from the Simpsons)
“Abortions for all!”
(Booooo!)
“OK, Abortions for none!”
(Boooo!)
“OK, Abortions for some… miniature American flags for others!”
(Yeaaaaa!)
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Posted in SSquirrel at 5:04 am by SSquirrel
Well, news has just reached TWN that Patrick Fitzgerald is expanding not only into a new website — but also into more office space.
Fitzgerald’s office is at 1400 New York Avenue, NW, 9th Floor in Washington.
What I have learned is that the Office of the Special Counsel has signed a lease this week for expanded office space across the street at 1401 New York Avenue, NW.
Another coincidence? More office space needed to shut down the operation?
I think not. Fitzgerald’s operation is expanding.
– Steve Clemons
Update- in the immortal words of Emily Lattila…….”Never Mind”
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10.26.05
Posted in SSquirrel at 7:42 pm by SSquirrel
The ad, titled, “A Better Way” calls on the President to change the course in Iraq and outline an exit strategy that honors the sacrifice our fallen have made. To see the ad click here. It will be running, beginning tomorrow, on FOX and CNN for nearly a week.
Please donate if you can!
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Posted in SSquirrel at 3:17 pm by SSquirrel
MATTHEWS: “You know, Tony, there is in the past, it’s not always there, but sometimes it glimmers with this man, our president, that kind of sunny nobility. How does he bring it back, because it hasn’t been apparent for a while now?”
While I rarely agree with anything the dubiously informed Chris Mathews has to say on his show, I must say I agree with him here. I have also seen this glimmer of sunny nobility in Ronald Little George, though I have seen it more often in my cat, Snowflake. Usually he follows this display of “sunny nobility” by charging headlong into a plate glass window, scaring the crap out of the fly he’s spotted. Maybe I should rename him Dubya? Or better yet Little George could change his name to Snowflake.
S(pittball)Squirrel
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Posted in SSquirrel at 2:54 am by SSquirrel
Someone’s Dad, Someone’s Child, Someone’s Mom, Someone’s Brother, Someone’s Sister, Someone’s Husband, Someone’s Wife, Someone’s Friend, Someone’s Dream…Forever Gone.
The 2,000 mark was recorded yesterday in counts kept by The Post and other news organizations based on information released by the military. The Defense Department’s official casualty number, however, generally lags — it stood yesterday at 1,993 — because it includes only troops who have been officially identified and whose families have been notified. Pentagon figures show that more than 15,000 have been wounded.
The U.S. military has provided no comprehensive estimate of deaths among Iraqis — either insurgents or non-combatants. Based on fragmented reports, the number of enemy Iraqi fighters killed appears to be several times greater than the U.S. fatalities, while independent estimates of the number of dead Iraqi civilians range from 20,000 to 30,000.
As in any war, the worst toll in Iraq has been borne by young, male ground troops: Three-quarters of the dead are active-duty soldiers and Marines, the bulk of them in their twenties.
I am angry at the little man with the little mind.
Grab a gun and walk a post little man,
God may forgive you, I will not.
Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.
Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead,
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.
He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last for ever; I was wrong.
The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood,
For nothing now can ever come to any good.
S(ad)Squirrel
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Posted in SSquirrel at 2:32 am by SSquirrel
Jo Becker ~WaPo
It’s beginning to look allot like Fitzmas, every single day…
In a 1993 speech to a Dallas women’s group, Miers talked about abortion, the separation of church and state, and how the issues play out in the legal system. “The underlying theme in most of these cases is the insistence of more self-determination,” she said. “And the more I think about these issues, the more self-determination makes sense.”
“This is going to be very disturbing to conservatives because I think it shows that she is a judicial activist,” said Mathew D. Staver, president and general counsel for the Liberty Counsel, which frequently argues constitutional cases from the conservative perspective. “This concept of self-determination could clearly be read in support for things like abortion or same-sex marriage, and it’s a philosophy that cuts a judge loose from the Constitution.”
White House spokesman Jim Dyke said the speeches are “entirely consistent” with the conservative doctrine of judicial restraint Miers recently outlined in a questionnaire for senators. While he said some conservatives “may be in a snit” about Miers’s comments on self-determination, the context was clear: “This is someone who sees an appropriate role for the courts and an appropriate role for the legislature.”
If you listening closely you can hear the wingnuts sharpening the pitchforks and soaking the torches. I love a good backstabbing contest, don’t you?
S(parky)Squirrel
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