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CensureBush.org Campaign Launched in Response to New House Legislation
The AfterDowningStreet.org coalition, an alliance of over 100 grassroots organizations, has launched a new campaign called CensureBush.org in order to support new legislation introduced by Congressman John Conyers that would censure President Bush and Vice President Cheney and create a select committee to investigate the administration's possible crimes and make recommendations regarding grounds for impeachment.
Continue reading "Conyers Moves Censure Bill Against Bush, Cheney" »
The House International Relations Committee is scheduled to debate and vote on a Resolution of Inquiry into the White House Iraq Group Wednesday, Nov, 9 at 10:30 a.m.
This will be the first vote Congress takes on investigating the White House Iraq Group (WHIG) and the first vote related to the war since Vice Presidential Chief of Staff Lewis Libby was indicted. This vote will be a key test of whether Republicans will continue to stand behind the White House's case for war.
On September 14, the International Relations Committee defeated by one vote a Resolution of Inquiry into White House and State Department communications with the United Kingdom involving Iraq war plans.
For more information about H. Res. 505 and the WHIG, go to this Web site: http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/whig
David Swanson: david@davidswanson.org or Bob Fertik bob@democrats.com
The House International Relations Committee will debate and vote on a resolution of Inquiry introduced by Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA) that calls on the Bush administration to give Congress all information relating to communication with officials of the United Kingdom relating to U.S. policy in Iraq between January 1.
The resolution has bipartisan support and 70 cosponsors. The measure is a privileged resolution, meaning if it is not taken up by the International Relations Committee in a defined period of time, Representative Lee would be entitled to request that it be brought to the House floor for a vote.
Where: 2172 Rayburn House Office Bldg.
When: Wednesday. September 14th. 10:30 AM EDT
Background: On May 1. 2005. The Sunday Times (UK) published the leaked minutes from a US-British meeting on July 23rd. 2002. The "Downing Street Memo." as the minutes came to be known. as well as other documents that came to light subsequently have raised serious questions as to whether the Bush administration manipulated intelligence data in order to justify the invasion of Iraq; the UN weapons inspection process was manipulated to provide a legal pretext for the war; and that pre-war air strikes were deliberately ramped up in order to soften Iraqi infrastructure in preparation for war. prior to the October Congressional vote authorizing the use of force. The Bush administration has not disputed the authenticity of these documents.
Since the publication of the memo, 131 Members of Congress have written the President, asking for answers to the questions it raises. Rep. Lee and Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) delivered more than 575.000 petition signatures to the White House. demanding answers. All of these inquiries have gone unanswered.
"The American people deserve to know the truth about the circumstances under which our troops were sent to war." Lee said.
The memo and subsequent documents raise questions not only about the administration's case for war, but also the constitutional separation of powers, specifically whether Congress' power to authorize the use of force was circumvented through the manipulation of intelligence.
"The U.S. is currently at war in Iraq under an authority conferred to President Bush by the U.S. Congress." Lee said. "It is not only Congress' prerogative. it is our responsibility to make sure that the authority to use force was not granted under circumstances that were deliberately misleading."
Contact: Nathan Britton Communications Director Office of Congresswoman Barbara Lee 1724 Longworth House Office Bldg. ph 202 225-2661 fax 202 225-9817.
Hearing and Rally on Thursday:
On Thursday. September 15. in Washington. D.C.. Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey will hold a hearing on exit strategies for Iraq.
A coalition of organizations demanding an end to the war will hold a rally at 5 p.m. that evening in front of the White House.
HEARING: WHEN: Thursday. September 15. 2005. 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. (may change once location is determined)
WHERE: TBD (there will be a room and a large overflow room)
WITNESSES: U.S. Senator Max Cleland. former member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. former head of the Veterans Administration and triple amputee from his military service in the Vietnam War; General Joseph Hoar (Ret. USMC). former Commander in Chief of U.S. Central Command; Ambassador David Mack. former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Near East. former U.S. Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates. and current Vice President of the Middle East Institute; Dr. Ken Katzman. Middle East analyst and Iraq specialist at the Congressional Research Service; Anas Shallal. an Iraqi-American and founder of Iraqi-Americans for Peaceful Alternatives.
Both Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate have been invited. Some 25 Democratic Members are expected. and several Republican Members. including Rep. Walter Jones Jr. (N.C.). have indicated they will participate for at least a portion of the hearing.
Rep. Woolsey's Advisory. Sept. 6 Article in Roll Call.
RALLY: Rally at Lafayette Square Park (in front of White House) at 5 p.m. ET on September 15. 2005. sponsored by Progressive Democrats of America. After Downing Street. Code Pink. Peace Action. Democrats.com. and Democracy Rising.
SPEAKERS: Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey and other Congress Members; Gold Star Families for Peace Member Tia Steele; Founder of American Families United. Gold Star Mother. Member of Military Families Speak Out. and star of "Farenheit 9-11" Lila Lipscomb; Veterans for Peace Board Member Ellen Barfield; Family member of U.S. soldier serving in Iraq Jawaid Khan; Co-Founder of Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) Tom Hayden; Code Pink Co-Founder and United for Peace and Justice organizer Gael Murphy; Peace Action Organizing and Policy Director Paul Kawika Martin; U.S. Labor Against the War Co-Founder Gene Bruskin; Center on Conscience and War Executive Director J.E. McNeil; PDA Board Member and After Downing Street Co-Founder John Bonifaz; Pastor of Pasadena. Calif.. All Saints Church Ed Bacon; PDA Exec! utive Director and After Downing Street Co-Founder Tim Carpenter; PDA Board Member and After Downing Street Co-Founder David Swanson; Democracy Rising Director and likely U.S. Senate candidate from Maryland Kevin Zeese; Pacifica Radio Washington Bureau Chief Verna Avery Brown; Co-Founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity Ray McGovern; PDA Board Member and President and CEO of Hip Hop Caucus Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr; Research Fellow. Institute for Policy Studies. Erik Leaver; Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg.
Also the same day. A coalition of organizations will hand in to Congress a petition for an exit strategy. See http://www.peoplespetition.org (Note that not all sponsors of and participants in the rally are participants in or supporters of the petition or the hearings.)
The Resolution of Inquiry into Bush's war lies now has 65 co-sponsors. It will come to a vote in the House International Relations Commitee on September 14th, where it has the co-sponsorship of most of the Democrats and one Republican. To pass, it needs all the Democrats and three Republicans. The more Congress Members not on the committee who co-sponsor, the more likely some committee members are to vote yes. A substantial debate on the issue is expected. The committee meets in Room 2172, Rayburn House Office Building, at 10:30 a.m. next Wednesday.
Email Your Congress Member
http://www.democrats.com/peoplesemailnetwork/50
Phone and Fax Your Congress Member
http://www.usalone.com/get_instantcongress.htm
Or call switchboard tollfree at (888) 818-6641.
Fill Out Feedback Form
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/1887
Here are Current Co-Sponsors
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:HE00375:@@@P
More Info
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/902
Rep. Jim Leach, R-Iowa City, will be the first Republican to sign on to a House resolution demanding disclosure of administration documents related to what's known as the Downing Street memos, according to the Des Moines Register.
Aides to the Iowa City Republican on Friday confirmed an announcement posted on an anti-war Web site, www. afterdowningstreet.org, saying that Leach will become a co-sponsor of House Resolution 375, authored by Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif.
The resolution, which as of Friday had 39 Democratic co-sponsors, requests that President Bush and the secretary of state send to the House all information in their possession relating to communications with the United Kingdom between Jan. 1, 2002, and Oct. 16, 2002, in connection with Iraq. This includes telephone and e-mail records, logs, calenders, minutes and memos.
Lee said in a July 21 statement that she wants answers to questions raised by the release of classified British memos. The leaked memos, written by aides to British Prime Minister Tony Blair, deal with the decision to invade Iraq, and have become a rallying point for those opposed to the war.
"These documents offer strong evidence that the Bush administration 'fixed' intelligence in order to mislead our country into war, evidence the administration has failed to dispute or answer," Lee said.
At a town hall meeting in July in Oakland, Calif., Lee said, "We knew all along that the president was misleading and lying to the American people about why he wanted to go to war," according to the Contra Costa Times. "We all have a right to know. . . . We're going to force them to answer the questions by any means necessary."
Both Bush and Blair, in a joint news conference earlier this summer, denied trying to "fix" the intelligence leading up to the war.
By David Swanson
I came to Crawford today, and it's a little different from D.C. in several ways, but mostly it's hotter. I've been to both Camp Caseys, and am blogging this from the cool of the Crawford Peace House.
At Camp Casey 1, I went across the road and talked to the half-dozen pro-war protesters. (There are police in the middle who have declared that there must be no interaction, but I didn't ask their permission). I asked the pro-warers what they would tell Cindy Sheehan her son died for. Some of them couldn't come up with any reason for the war. A couple of them came up with this: Saddam Hussein would not have allowed Cindy Sheehan to protest on his road, and the war is being fought to protect that right in the U.S.
READ MORE
David Swanson
Cell phone: 202-329-7847
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org
david (at) davidswanson (dot) org
Mother of Slain Soldier Keeps Vigil in Crawford, Texas
by Glynn Wilson
Editor and Publisher
Locust Fork Publishing
LocustFork.Net
SOMEWHERE IN THE BLOGOSPHERE - Cindy Sheehan, the mother from Vacaville, Calif., who co-founded Gold Star Families for Peace after her son Casey was killed in Iraq, said in a blog conference call today that the U.S. Secret Service had been harassing her to leave Crawford, Texas, saying she was at risk of being run over by a car in the middle of the night.
She praised the Internet and the blogosphere for helping her cause and for keeping her safe.
"I attribute everything to the Internet and the blogosphere. When we put it out Saturday night that the Secret Service was trying to intimidate us into leaving, it went all over the blogosphere and the Internet," she said. "I just wanted everybody to know that if something happened to us it was probably the Secret Service. They know that. They watch the blogs too."
But she said she would not be intimidated into leaving or giving up.
"This is something that can't be ignored and they can't shut us down," she said. "It's truly amazing and thank God for the Internet or we wouldn't know anything. We would already be a fascist state. Our government is run by one party, every level, and the mainstream media is a propaganda tool for the government. If we didn't have the Internet, none of us would know what was truly going on."
She said she never got involved in activism before her son Casey was killed in Iraq, "because I didn't think one person could make a difference. But one person with millions of people behind you can make a difference. . . . I have said since my son died and the 'elections' in November that it is 'we the people' that has to cause the change."
In response to a question from a blogger, Ms. Sheehan went into more detail about the treatment she received from the Secret Service.
"The first day we were here, they kept on coming and telling us, 'you know you really don't want to stay here because chances are you're going to get hit by a car during the night,' " she said. "Finally, one of the people here with me asked, 'Does that mean if we get run over it's going to be one of you?' And the guy goes, 'That's not what I'm trying to say.' "
When asked if she got the impression that the Secret Service was trying to intimidate her, she said, "Yes, definitely. They wanted us to leave. Of course they wanted us to leave. But they really don't know who they are dealing with here. They know now, but they didn't know then."
When she was asked if she has had daily contact with the Secret Service, she said yes, and that the so-called "Camp Casey concierge" was asked about the number of people expected to show up.
"But we can't tell," she said. "People are just spontaneously coming. It's been a really amazing thing."
From another blogger, she was asked about the smear campaign from the White House and the right-wing bloggers, including Matt Drudge, saying she changed her story on what President George W. Bush told her in an earlier meeting with parents of troops killed in Iraq.
She said the comments Drudge used were taken out of context and she insisted she is telling the truth about how Bush treated her by calling her "mom" and making bad jokes.
When asked about the controversy over whether she would appear on Bill O'Reilly's show "The Factor" on Fox News, she said she had decided not to go on the show after being attacked by the conservative talk show host who is not a journalist.
"I don't like it when people lie about me and attack me for exercising my freedom of speech," she said. "It's one thing for Bill O'Reilly to disagree with my politics and my view on the war, but it's absolutely another thing that he attacked me personally. I'm not going to dignify his show with my presence because I believe his show is an obscenity to the truth and to humanity."
She also said she was not going to allow anyone to distract her from the true mission of her cause.
"The true mission is bringing attention to this occupation of Iraq and ending the war, bringing our troops home," she said. "I don't think they have the support of a majority of America. I think we do."
She said there were only three things that would make her leave Crawford: A good meeting with the president, the end of August or if she is arrested.
She said if they try to force her to leave, "I am just going to sit my butt down on the ground. This is America. Every inch of America is a freedom of speech and freedom to peaceably assemble zone. If you want me gone you'll have to carry me out of here."
When asked specifically what she would ask the president if she were granted a meeting, she said she would ask what the noble cause is that her son Casey died for.
"I don't believe a war of aggression against a country that was no threat to the United States of America is a noble cause," she said.
She indicated she would ask about his statement that we have to honor the troops by completing the mission, since the mission is unclear and keeps changing.
"The only way they can honor my son's sacrifice is by bringing the troops home," she said.
She was asked how she felt about the media's minimal coverage of her compared to crime news such as the ongoing story about the Alabama teen missing in Aruba.
"They don't want this to be the story," she said. "A lot of people have a lot at stake by keeping this occupation going. They are making lots of money. We all know who owns NBC. If they were truly reporting the news objectively, they would be reporting this. It strikes me as a bigger story than Natalee Holloway, which is a tragedy for one family. What we are trying to do here is save millions of families from going through tragedy."
One of the callers pointed out that her story was the lead editorial in Tuesday's New York Times.
"It is getting a lot of mainstream attention," she said. "That is a gratifying result of what is happening. It's putting the war back on the front pages, back in the news where it belongs. It belongs there every day whether a grieving mom is sitting outside the ranch in Crawford or not. We have to realize we are a nation at war."
She said again if not for the Internet, "We wouldn't know the truth about what is going on over there."
The blog conference call was hosted by Joe Trippi of JoeTrippi.com, Bob Fertik of Democrats.com and AfterDowningStreet.org, and Jodie Evans of CodePink4Peace.org.
Editor's Note: I will be calling the Secret Service this afternoon to get their reaction to this story.
But I just wanted to inform my regular readers that while I was working on this story, several things happened that make it clear there are forces in this country trying to prevent the truth from getting out.
First of all, just as I started to blog, this site was attacked again by a series of trackback pings and comments from a Texas spammer flooding us with Texas hold 'em poker and casino sites. Our home phone and cell phone were flooded with telemarketing calls. And, although a minor, scattered thunderstorm came through this area during the conference call, it was over by the time I started to blog. Yet Alabama Power tripped the power here as I was trying to post, forcing me to restart the computer and reset the cable modem. Fascism indeed.
Thanks to one of our highly observant readers and regular callers to the radio show, this item just in from the Birmingham Snooze.
It is quite obvious that politicians have it way too easy these days and no longer suffer the wrath of citizens and voters. They are totally in the pocket of large corporations.
Nowhere is this more true that Alabama, where you get comments like this in the local newspaper without so much as a question or a challenge.
U.S. Reps. Mike Rogers, R-Saks, told the Birmingham News Washington bureau THIS to justify his upcoming vote on the Central American Free Trade Agreement, which is a great deal for some corporations and an abominable deal for most workers.
"There is now no employer that I know of in my district that is opposed to CAFTA," Rogers said.
No concern for the employees Mr. Rogers? What about the citizens in your district? The voters?
Of course not. They are mostly brainwashed by Fox News and the bad or absent local media coverage - or they have lost all hope and no longer pay attention.
As long as Mr. Rogers toes the Republican line and goes to church now and then he will be reelected, unless some local progressives become fired up enough and so mad as hell that they get off the couch and say, "We're not going to take it anymore."
Personally, I think the people of Kyrgyzstan are onto something. But hey, I could be wrong.
And lest anyone doubt that Fox News is America's Al Jazeera, check out Bill O'Reilly's Talking Points column today. Fox News is not just the conservative, Republican news outlet. It is the patriotic American network, which could also be described as the jingoistic, nationalistic news network.
Remind us again. What is the definition of fascism?
"The three characteristics of fascism are the integration of the government with monopoly capital, an aggressive and chauvinist foreign policy and the restriction of civil liberties."
For one free bright blule dot bumper sticker, who said it?
Here's the Wikipedia Encyclopedia definition.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Is it possible that the corrupt Bush administration will lose its focus and run the train of democracy off the track so violently that the Democratic Party will have a chance to elect some smarter, more progressive candidates in 2006 and 2008 and move the country in a different direction?
That is the hope of a group of frustrated liberals, Democrats and progressives who gathered at the 22nd Street Jazz Cafe on the Southside of Birmingham, Alabama, Saturday night to debate the Downing Street Memos and the Bush administration's questionable policies, which took the U.S. to war in Iraq based on a rumor that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction.
We now know that the administration "fixed" the intelligence to support the policy dreamed up by the neo-con think tanks to invade Iraq and attempt turning it into a capitalist democracy - thanks to the leaked Downing Street memos.
The only good news to come out of it in retrospect, according to Ben Mazzara, one of the local event organizers, is this: "When Bush runs the train off the rails, we'll be there to put it back on the track."
Kathy Day, another organizer, told a group of about 15 that it is time to be "objective" and "honest" for a change and help the public get acquainted with the facts, move forward in action against the lies and pressure the media to be more responsible.
The situation reminded her of the cartoon which shows President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney watching a line of flag-draped coffins go by. Bush says to Cheney, "I guess they didn't know the right people."
Ouch!
David Gespass, an attorney and activist and the featured speaker, criticized the "lapdog press" for not reporting the truth about the situation in Iraq in the run-up to war. He echoed the point made by Noam Chomsky in the book Manufacturing Consent, which says that the corporate American press conglomerates only report views in a narrow range of mainstream opinion, what he called "safe logic."
We should "go where the silence is, not where the power is, to find balance," he said. "It's time for the truth to be the news."
He suggested that the lies exposed by the Downing Street Memos show definitively that "the Bush administration lies - which should be their unraveling."
John Crenshaw of the Over the Mountain Democrats said it is time for liberals, progressives and Democrats to come out of the closet and admit who they are in the schools, churches and the work place.
"We must change and adapt or die," he said of the entrenched Alabama Democratic Party, controlled by special interests, including the trial lawyers, the teacher's lobby and the African-American community.
He said the group from the moneyed part of town will host a series of events focusing on issues and causes people can agree on, such as the fact that "poverty exists in Alabama."
Sharron Williams, one of the organizers from the Progressive Democrats of America and Democracy for America said it is time to get the word out that a lot of people disagree with the president, "not just a bunch of liberals."
"It's time for some grassroots action," she said. "It's time for solidarity."
The event was sponsored by the group AfterDowningStreet.Org. A version of this story was published on the group's Web site under the headline Report from Birmingham, AL.
Post comments here or e-mail them to fast2write at charter dot net.
The combined Birmingham chapters of Democracy For America and Progressive Democrats of America will host a gathering in recognition of the 3rd Anniversary of the now infamous #10 Downing Street meeting. More than 300 similar gatherings are planned throughout the country, thanks to AfterDowningStreet.org and Representative John Conyers of Michigan.
"This will be an evening of discussion of the issues surrounding the Bush Administration's actions and intentions for going to war in Iraq, as well as 'Rovegate' plus the John Roberts Supreme Court nomination," the press release says. "We will have information for developing letter-writing campaigns to our elected leaders on all levels, plus input from all on how we can make a difference in Birmingham and the state of Alabama. (We are already getting close to just one year to significant elections!)"
"Gather with us Saturday night, your involvement is needed. We will have DVD's to watch that will be of interest, and some that will stir progressives up!
"Today marks the three-year anniversary of the now-legendary meeting between high-level U.S. and British officials, the day two men secretly decided to go to war. Now we know that Congress and the American people were ntentionally deceived."
When: Saturday, July 23rd, 7-9 p.m.
Where: The 22nd Street Jazz Cafe
(back dining room of former Anthony's Cafe)
2131 7th Avenue South
Birmingham, AL 35205
For more information please go to http://www.locustfork.net/.
"We are happy to announce that this is a local resource for keeping up with news and information behind the news," organizer Ben Mazzara said.
The blog address is: http://www.locustfork.net/blog/ where local events and comments on the issues can be posted.
"See you Saturday night!"
Contacts
Sharron Williams: 205-930-0982
Ben Mazzara: 205-381-9992
For events in other areas and blogs about tonight's events, go to AfterDowningStreet.Org.
Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) introduced a Resolution of Inquiry in the House of Representatives yesterday along with 26 co-sponsors, which, if passed, will require the White House and the State Department to "transmit all information relating to communication with officials of the United Kingdom between January 1, 2002, and October 16, 2002, relating to the policy of the United States with respect to Iraq."
For more information go to AfterDowningStreet.org
The Birmingham, Alabama, chapters of Democracy For America and Progressive Democrats of America are combining efforts to host a local event this Saturday night to focus attention on the 3rd Anniversary of the now infamous No. 10 Downing Street meeting, in which British Prime Minister Tony Blair was told the Bush administration was "fixing it's intelligence" around the policy decision to invade Iraq.
"We hope this will be a lively discussion of the issues surrounding the Bush administration's actions and intentions for going to war in Iraq as well as Rovegate and the John Roberts nomination," organizer Sharron Williams said.
She urged anyone interested to "gather with us Saturday night" July 23 at the 22nd Street Jazz Cafe from 7 to 9 p.m. in the back dining room of the former Anthony's Cafe. The address is 2131 7th Avenue South.
"We will have DVD's to watch to stir the passion of progressive politics," she said.
After the meeting there will be a live band at the club. According the Nightclub schedule in the alternative weekly Black and White, the band Saturday night will be Topper Price and the Upsetters.
Downing Street, Rovegate, and the Ongoing Deception in Iraq
July 23rd will be the third anniversary of the drafting of the Downing Street minutes. Sen. John Conyers, D-Michigan, is organizing a series of house parties on this date throughout the country to broaden public understanding of how Karl Rove and the Bush Administration have manipulated intelligence, deceived the American people, and misled our nation into war.
AfterDowningStreet.Org is involved in this effort and has produced a dramatization of the meeting behind the memo and a map of events planned around the country.
The Bush FBI will be there too, of course, collecting information on activist Americans. Where is Deep Throat when we need him?
If you are an FBI agent and you are troubled by the direction the Bush administration is taking the country, give us a call and tell all. We promise to protect your anonymity : )
It started with a phone call and has now swept across America: Michael Smith tells the tale of his 'Downing Street memo' scoop.
Meanwhile, I'm working on a Sunday column called "The Top 10 Reasons You Might Be A Liberaltarian."
The Downing Street Memos indicate "that in the summer of 2002, at a time the White House was promising Congress and the American people that war would be their last resort, that they believed military action against Iraq was 'inevitable.' The minutes reveal that President 'Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy.'
"The American people took the warnings that the administration sounded seriously-warnings that were echoed at the United Nations and here in Congress as we voted to give the president the authority to go to war. For the sake of our democracy and our future national security, the public must know whether such warnings were driven by facts and responsible intelligence, or by political calculation."
Read the entire letter here:
Continue reading "Kerry's Letter on Downing Street Memos" »
Rep. John Conyers, Jr., D-Michigan, was in a letter writing mood this week after holding the only hearing in Congress on the Downing Street Memo, which proves that President George W. Bush and his neocon supporters were planning the war in Iraq whether Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction or not.
From his Web site you can read his letter to the president, signed by 122 Democrats in the House and accompanied by a petition with 500,000 signatures from U.S. citizens. You can also read the Downing Street Memo yourself from there.
Then, in what can be described as a continuation of the new effort on the part of liberals to start holding the press accountable in a way that conservatives have been doing for years, Mr. Conyers wrote a letter to the Washington Post complaining about its coverage of this week's hearing.
This letter we publish here for your convenience in its entirety.
Continue reading "Congressman Conyers Hammers the Washington Post" »
Opponents of the war in Iraq held an unofficial hearing on Capitol Hill on Thursday to draw attention to a leaked British government document that they say proves their case that President Bush misled the public about his war plans in 2002 and distorted intelligence to support his policy, the New York Times reports.
U.S. Senate Democrats rejected a Republican compromise over John Bolton's nomination as U.N. ambassador on Thursday and cited a British report backing their view that the Bush administration hyped intelligence on Iraq before the 2003 invasion, according to Reuters.
Meanwhile, Bush administration officials working behind the scenes have succeeded in weakening key sections of a proposal for joint action by the eight major industrialized nations to curb climate change, according to the Washington Post.
So it comes as no surprise that "Americans are in a season of political discontent," according to the Times, "Increasingly pessimistic about Iraq and skeptical about President Bush's plan for Social Security."
A New York Times/CBS News poll gives Mr. Bush one of the lowest approval ratings of his presidency and even lower marks to the Republican controlled Congress.
It's beginning to look a like Watergate, and just in time for Deep Throat's book and a movie deal. The 91-year-old W. Mark Felt could be played by Tom Hanks, according to the Post.
"For many liberals already frustrated with the media's coverage of President Bush, it has become a rallying cry over the past six weeks: What about the Downing Street memo?" writes gadfly Howard Kurtz in the Washington Post.
Their anger, amplified by left-wing advocacy groups, columnists, bloggers and some Democrats in Congress, has gradually forced the mainstream media to take a second look at a document that received spotty coverage after it was reported May 1 by London's Sunday Times.
Journalists offered various explanations for the scant attention paid to the July 2002 British memo, which, in recounting a meeting of Prime Minister Tony Blair and his top aides, said that the Bush administration had "fixed" the intelligence on Iraq and that war was inevitable. They said the memo was old, that the U.S. mobilization for war was widely reported at the time, that there was an initial distrust of a British press report. Some maintained that the memo didn't prove anything.
But Peter Hart of the liberal group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), which sent out several "action alerts" urging members to contact news organizations, said, "Any story that reminds readers that the political and journalistic establishments spectacularly failed on Iraq is a difficult story for the media to report." Now, he said, in conjunction with groups such as MoveOn.org, "activists have pushed this into the media, much to the chagrin of reporters, who have no love for getting e-mails constantly telling them to do the story."
For the past 15 years, conservatives have used their outlets - in talk radio, right-leaning news operations, editorial pages and, more recently, blogs - to pressure mainstream journalists into covering stories that might otherwise be ignored. And they have had striking success, from allegations about President Bill Clinton's personal life to CBS's questionable documents on President Bush's National Guard service to the Swift Boat Veterans' attacks on Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) in last year's presidential campaign.
Now the left can claim a similar success, Kurtz admits.
Why do any reporters have trouble understanding this story? The damn war was going to happen no matter what. It was planned by the neocon think tanks prior to 9/11.
The memo, a real "smoking gun," just proves it. But the lapdog press just publishes the denials by Bush and Blair and moves on to the next runaway bride story as if they possessed the same import.
Add 1: Robert Parry at Consortiumnews.com just released this story on the issue: LMSM, the 'Lying Mainstream Media'
Add 2: The AP just released this story: Lawmakers Push Resolution on Iraq Pullout
Add 3: Congressman John Conyers (D-MI), joined by 122 Democrats in the House and 500,000 citizens in a letter to President Bush to be delivered tonight, issued this statement in advance of the hearing today on the Downing Street documents.
"Few issues are more important under our constitutional form of government than the decision to go to war and place our soldiers lives at risk . . . "
Continue reading "Downing Street Memo Gets Second Glance" »
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