Happy Halloween...

Trick or treat, evildoers?

TGIM..!

Evildoers beware.

TGIF - Justice Bloggers...

It was a good week for justice. :)

Open Thread...

I Am Just Warming Up...

In the Libby Case, A Grilling to Remember

"With withering and methodical dispatch, White House nemesis and prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald yesterday sliced up the first person called to the stand on behalf of the vice president's former chief of staff.

If I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby was not afraid of the special counsel before, the former Cheney aide, who will face Fitzgerald in a trial beginning Jan. 11, had ample reason to start quaking after yesterday's Ginsu-like legal performance. "<more>

I wonder, why AP and the Wa. Post recycled the old "bomb scare" photo of me with only a fresh caption? How about some relevant photos of me and while you are at it...fetch me some hot coffee and a Krispy Kreme? ;)

Memory expert taken to task in Libby hearing
Special counsel causes witness to question her own research

"But Fitzgerald pointed out in his cross-examination that the study itself may have been skewed. Loftus admitted on the stand, after being picked apart by details from her own works, that the answers to some of the questions posed to jurors in the study actually prove exactly the opposite - that jurors can in fact use common sense to ascertain the effects of memory on witness testimony."

I hope Dr. Loftus got her fee up front and in cash! ;)

Is Sex The GOP's Achilles Leg..?

"Like the perv (Jim Gibbons) was like totally all over me. Gag me with a spoon!"

Question of the month: Do GOP family values create sexual predators or are sexual predators attracted to GOP family values or is GOP morality talk just too damn cheap?

Nice nails! Chrissy, why didn't you give him a little CSI Las Vegas cat DNA scratch fever for the cameras and lab? ;)

Sometimes Evildoers Just Self-Destruct...

and implode making it really easy.

GIBBONS SCANDAL:
Accuser alleges cover-up
Woman describes pressure

Because That's Where The Corruption Is...

to paraphrase Willie Sutton.

Boo Hoo Who?

GOP hopping mad about DOJ corruption probe leaks before election

And EXCUSE ME...at the DOJ we ONLY work for the PEOPLE not the party!

Bizness As Usual..?

another day - another scandal(s).

Feds scrutinizing Rep. Renzi

Rep. Porter won't
release phone
records/schedule

Just say, "No, thank you!" to graft.

Has He Evolved...?

Wa. Po: Allen - An Ascent Shadowed By Questions on Race

Forgive him - Yea or nay?

Stay The Curse...

DNC VIDEO: Bush saying "stay the course"
v.
"we never said stay the course"

Dear Pat Fitzgerald...

Jackson writes me seeking probe

of clouted workers' claims

Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., who's mulling a bid for mayor, wants U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald to investigate the high incidence of workers compensation claims filed by city workers whose names were on the clout list kept by Mayor Daley's former patronage director.

"It's hard for me to believe that city patronage workers face a greater risk of on-the-job injury than coal miners, steelworkers, and slaughterhouse butchers,'' Jackson wrote to Fitzgerald on Tuesday. "That tells me that either the city lacks the necessary safeguards to protect staff, or that workers are filing and collecting on false claims." <more>

JJ, what is today's appointees can put dope in their veins or hope in their brains. If they can conceive it and believe it, they can achieve it. They must know it is not their aptitude but their attitude, not political gratitude, that will determine their altitude. (I think I will start paraphrasing your dad's great quotes more often).

You see I cast my bread on the waters long ago. Now it's time for you to send it back to me - toasted and buttered on both sides. ;)

Food For Thought, Guys...

"When I Shook Skilling's Hand, It Was Limp..."

Jeffrey & Me
By Jason Leopold

The conclusion to the ongoing Enron saga was anti-climactic. Jeff Skilling, the company's former chairman and chief executive, will spend the next 24 years in a federal penitentiary after being found guilty by a federal court earlier this year of insider trading, wire fraud, conspiracy and other charges related to his involvement in the financial machinations that led to Enron's demise five years ago. The one-time high-flying energy company is now nothing more than a symbol of 1990s/Millennium-era corporate greed and Skilling its public face.

For Skilling, however, the realization that he will be spending the next two decades holed up in an eight-by-six foot cell has yet to set in. A month ago, he was arrested for public intoxication near his wife's home in Dallas. Last year, he was arrested in New York on similar charges. It's sad, really, to watch someone of Skilling's stature, the architect of the company's transformation from a pipeline owner into an energy trading powerhouse, a person who believed so passionately in the power of the free market that at one point in his career he helped an Enron employee develop an idea she had to trade weather derivatives in the open market, to fall so spectacularly and so publicly.

When I met Skilling in December 2001 at the Washington, DC, offices of his law firm O'Melveney & Myers, the firm he hired to represent him in matters before Congress and the Securities and Exchange Commission, there were no signs of the meltdown that was to come. But he was certainly knee-deep in the first stage of grief: denial.<more>

On a side note: NEWS JUNKIE has been on the top 50 of Amazon.com's Top 100 books for nearly two weeks and is also a Los Angeles Times Bestseller--without the benefit of mainstream U.S. press coverage.

Jason should be proud particularly happy because his book was published by an independent, Process Media/Feral House Books. This is an amazing accomplishment for them and for independent publishing in general. Bully!

Ay Carumba, Anyone..?

GOP Las Vegas Scandal Jackpot

"This time it's the governor's candidate, Republican Congressman Jim Gibbons, the guy who was accused last week of attacking a young woman in a parking lot. Today we find out that the very anti-immigration Gibbons had an illegal alien working for him for years, and even hid her in the basement.

It's 8 minutes and 24 seconds of local news in Nevada, that is a HUGE story, no one does a story that long.

Oh man. Here is the local news story in Nevada from the 5pm news tonight in Las Vegas."<Americabog/video> <Channel 8>

AND his wife Dawn Gibbons is running for the Congressional seat he is vacating - Do you think she knows she lied on a federal application? Nevada is turning both red and blue.

On a more serious note: How can you be a lawmaker when you are a lawbreaker? Just say "No, thank you!" to graft and hiring illegal aliens if you are running for office, Pendejos!

Hollywood Here I Come..?

Mr. DeMille, I am ready for my close up.



















Try it yourself.

You Talkin' To Me..?

This state representative has a bright future in the Florida GOP.

Legislator made threatening phone calls

When state Rep. Ralph Arza found out over the weekend that another legislator had filed a complaint claiming Arza slurred the African-American chief of Miami-Dade's schools, he started drinking. And he got mad.

Arza called the colleague, Rep. Gus Barreiro, and left him an angry message on voicemail, cursing him out and calling Miami-Dade superintendent Rudy Crew the N-word. That was the same thing -- a racial, profanity-laced voicemail -- Barreiro had complained about in the first place.

The upshot: Barreiro called the cops Monday, saying he felt Arza's diatribe was ''threatening.'' Police, who now have a tape of Arza's phone call -- and a second anonymous call made hours later -- say they have opened an investigation. <more>

Yo, Rep. Tony Montana, in the future when you want to share you might want to consider instant messaging, emailing or using "the Google." ;)

Start Spreading The News...

2006 Best Cover Winner and Finalists

This Is Our Turf...

after one year and 1045 posts later....In the words of Mayor Koch..."How am I doing?"

My first week here. My first post below:

New Kid On The Block

I am "Very" Special Prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald.

I prosecute, therefore I am.

I am somewhat engrossed in my duties with the Grand Jury, but I hope to give regular updates and insight into the process and who I will be recommending for indictment.

Thanks for stopping by and a special thanks to my friend Harriet Miers who introduced me to blogging.

Name That Quote..?

"I don't know! I don't know why I did it, I don't know why I enjoyed it, and I don't know why I'll do it again!"

Confused..?

It's OK, so is George Allen...

Jeffrey Skilling - Come On Down..

and get your sentence from Judge Sim Lake today.

"Under federal sentencing guidelines, which Lake has said he will rely on, Skilling faces more than 20 years in prison if investor loss tied to his actions exceeds $80 million. Skilling also faces more than $18 million in fines for his crimes.

Jack Sylvia, a Boston-based attorney with the firm of Mintz Levin, said Skilling is facing a longer sentence that could send him away for life. Lay's death and the reduced sentence former Enron chief financial officer Andrew Fastow got last month might be factors in Skilling's sentence, he said.

“The reality is when dealing with somebody who is middle-aged, a sentence of even 20 years can more often than not be a life sentence,” he said.

Some say that's a tough break, but as the head of the Enron Task Force...I say enjoy...BAM!

UPDATE: 24 years and 4 months for Skilling. Justice has been served. Next!

Will They Ever Learn..?

Former aide says Rep. Porter made illegal fundraising calls

This question should be rolling off the tongue of every candidate running for office against an incumbent because 9 times out of 10 it will ring true...

Canary Proof...

Singing Abramoff Gets Very Own FBI Desk

Jack Abramoff, the lobbying scandal figure, has become such a chatty rat that probe insiders say he's been given a desk to work at in the FBI. We're told he spends up to four hours a day detailing his shady business to agents eager to nail more congressmen in the scandal. And when cooperative witnesses spend that much time inside, they get a desk. As a result of his help in the ever expanding investigation, we hear that the Feds hope to keep him in a nearby prison after he's sentenced on his conspiracy admission.

The Scarlet Letter...

is an "L."

Kerry ignores pressure to share '04 wealth

WASHINGTON -- As he campaigns extensively on behalf of House and Senate candidates, Senator John F. Kerry is under increasing pressure from Democratic Party leaders and activists to tap his $14 million campaign account and spread the money around to help the party's efforts.

Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat, has given less than $15,000 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee since the beginning of 2005. Though he has helped candidates in a variety of other ways, his last major financial contribution to the DSCC came a month after he lost the 2004 presidential election, when he used $1 million in leftover campaign funds to help the committee retire its debt. <more>

"Call For Mark FFFFFooooolllll-eeeeey...!!!!!"

How Foley Skirted Rules To Pursue Relationships

Former Pages Describe Lawmaker's Advances

Remember these ads?

Stay The Course - Media Invention...

From Think Progress:

Bush: ‘We’ve Never Been Stay The Course’

During an interview today on ABC’s This Week, President Bush tried to distance himself from what has been his core strategy in Iraq for the last three years. George Stephanopoulos asked about James Baker’s plan to develop a strategy for Iraq that is “between ’stay the course’ and ‘cut and run.’”

Bush responded, ‘We’ve never been stay the course, George!’ Watch it:

Happy Saturday...

17 more days until the mid-term elections. Are you registered? Are you voting? What is the main issue(s) on your mind influencing your vote?

I find the Cook Political Report makes an interesting read.

Caption Me...

President Bush visits his local pharmacy in Washington, D.C. today.

Are You Playing Hard To Get..?

CREW SENDS LETTER TO DOJ URGING INVESTIGATION INTO REP. WELDON’S THREATS OF RETALIATION AGAINST THOSE WHO CONTRIBUTED TO OPPONENT

Melanie, TGIF and stop working so hard! May I suggest you catching a shuttle to Chicago? I can promise you a weekend you will never forget...I think I have some lasagna in the oven. ;)

Salute...

After Pat’s Birthday

Friday Origami...

What's on your mind?

Hate For Sale...

The height of hypocrisy begins here:

Former top aide to Rep. Ney (R-OH) says GOP just pretending to be anti-gay to fool Christian right

"You have to separate the marketing from the reality. The reality is, these members are not homophobic. For the most part, they're using this marketing to play to our base and stay in power. They have to turn out the votes," said David Duncan, once a board member of the Lesbian and Gay Congressional Staff Association and a former top aide to Rep. Robert Ney (R-Ohio), who last week pleaded guilty to corruption charges linked to the Abramoff scandal.

Whatever Happens In Las Vegas...

becomes National News!

GOP Gubernatorial Candidate, Booze,
Babes & 911 Calls

sloooooooooooow whistle...

It's Ugly Out There...

Feds investigate GOP candidate for tapping FBI database

Rep. Heather Wilson accused of stealing police report; Husband accused of improperly touching 16 year old boy

File This Under...

United States of America v. I. Lewis Libby

View 10-18-06 Filing - PDF

BAM!

Trick Or Treat..!

Judge Orders Cheney Visitor Logs And Laboratory Opened

A federal judge has ordered the Bush administration to release information about who visited Vice President Dick Cheney's office and personal residence, an order that could spark a late election season debate over lobbyists' White House access.

The Washington Post asked for two years of White House visitor logs in June but the Secret Service refused to process the request. Government attorneys called it "a fishing expedition into the most sensitive details of the vice presidency."

U.S. District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina ruled Wednesday that, by the end of next week, the Secret Service must produce the records or at least identity them and justify why they are being withheld.

The newspaper sought logs for anyone visiting Cheney, his legal counsel, chief spokesman and other top aides and advisers. <more>

Silly Elephants, Dirty Tricks...

are for kids.

AG: Voter threat linked to GOP

"State investigators have linked a Republican campaign to letters sent to thousands of Orange County Hispanics warning them they could go to jail or be deported if they vote next month, a spokesman for the attorney general said."

"He declined to identify the specific Republican campaign Wednesday, citing the ongoing investigation. The Los Angeles Times and The Orange County Register both reported Thursday that the investigation appeared to be focused on the campaign of Tan D. Nguyen, a Republican challenger to Democratic U.S. Rep. Loretta Sanchez."

"The letter, written in Spanish, tells recipients: 'You are advised that if your residence in this country is illegal or you are an immigrant, voting in a federal election is a crime that could result in jail time.'" <more>

North Korea Is Rubber...

North Korean General: 'War Is Inevitable' (ABC's very misleading headline)

If President Bush continues to ask North Korea to "kneel," war "will be inevitable," and it would begin on the Korean Peninsula, North Korean Gen. Ri Chan Bok told "Good Morning America" anchor Diane Sawyer, in an exclusive interview inside North Korea.

The general also had a message for President Bush.

"He keeps talking about North Korea as the 'axis of evil,' as an outpost of tyranny, as an unacceptable government that makes its own people hungry," he said.

"We would ask him please to stop making these bad comments on our nation, and I'm speaking not just for myself but for all people in this country." <more>

"Axis of Evil" - Find me the speech writer who coined the phrase, the political strategist who liked it and the bully who delivered it...history will label them as glue.

Insert Name Here...

Are you a "porn-loving, adulterous, abusive drunk who likes to advertise on Craig's List for three-ways and anal sex and takes naked pictures of himself standing at attention"...seeking those who share similar GOP values... <so much more>

Count The Characters Week...

‘There Are Rumors About A Third [Page Scandal], This One Involving A 16-Year-Old Girl’

"political news is starting to sound more and more like you’re reading the police blotter, with Ney last week, the eighth guilty plea or conviction in the Abramoff case, piled on top of Scooter Libby and Tom DeLay and Curt Weldon. It goes on and on.

And, of course, the punchline is that President Bush has declared this to be National Character Counts Week."

National Character Counts Week, 2006
A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America

America's strength is found in the spirit and character of our people. During National Character Counts Week, we renew our commitment to instilling values in our young people and to encouraging all Americans to remember the importance of good character. <more>

Fighting For Truth, Justice & The Am. Way...

civilian style.

Sweeney took unreported trip to
Mariana Islands w/ Abramoff aide

CREW is on a roll! Melanie, marry me?

Separate That Church From State...

CREW FILES IRS COMPLAINT AGAINST LIVING WORD CHRISTIAN CENTER
Pastor Endorses state Sen. Michele Bachmann for U.S. House Seat -- Allows Bachmann to Give Stump Speech

"Churches, like Living Word Christian Center, are absolutely prohibited from intervening in elections for any public office. This prohibition is a condition of the very favorable tax benefits public charities receive under section 501(c)(3) of the tax code.

On October 14, 2006 Ms. Bachmann delivered a campaign stump speech from the Living Word Christian Center’s pulpit and the church’s pastor, Mac Hammond, openly endorsed her candidacy. Pastor Hammond’s comments and Ms. Bachmann’s speech were made during the Living Word Christian Center’s weekend services, presented before the entire congregation and broadcast over the Internet. By using church resources to promote the candidacy of Ms. Bachmann, the church jeopardized its tax status." <more>

Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID)

Anonymous sex in Union Station men's room...This is your life!

All aboard the GOP Closet Express - next stop Outville.

On a side note - I love You-Tube, especially being able to see the old news broadcasts when news readers were journalists and had integrity and ethics.

It's Greek To Him...

President Bush's Frat Boy Attitude

Duke Was One Pushy SOB...

(sweet old boy)

Report Spells Out Abuses by "Happy Days" Cunningham

"Former Representative Randy Cunningham pressured and intimidated staff members of the House Intelligence Committee to help steer more than $70 million in classified federal business to favored military contractors, according to a Congressional investigation made public on Tuesday."

"Ms. Harman’s action drew a rebuke from Representative Peter Hoekstra, Republican of Michigan and chairman of the committee, who called the release “disturbing and beyond the pale.”

In an interview, Ms. Harman said Tuesday that the public had a right to see the conclusions of the inquiry, which was led by Michael Stern, an outside special counsel, and completed in May. She said she had been pushing for months for the committee to produce an unclassified version of the report.

“I thought it would be out in early August,” she said, “well ahead of the election season.”

Only the five-page executive summary of the report was released. The full 59-page report remains classified."

Rep. Harman - brass ones.

Quack Quack Quack...

Elections Will Leave Bush An Early Lame Duck

"On desks around the West Wing sit digital clocks counting down the days and hours left in the Bush presidency, reminders to the White House staff to use the time left as effectively as possible. As of 8 a.m. today, those clocks will read 825 days, four hours. But if the elections go the way pollsters and pundits predict, they might as well read 20 days.

At least that would be the end of George W. Bush's presidency as he has known it. If Democrats win one or both houses of Congress on Nov. 7, the result will transform the remainder of Bush's time in office and dramatically shift the balance of power in Washington."

"Most worrisome to the White House is the subpoena power that Democrats would gain with a majority in the House or Senate. For years, Republicans have been mostly deferential in scrutinizing the Bush administration, but Democrats are eager to reexamine an array of issues, such as Vice President Cheney's energy task force, the Jack Abramoff scandal and preparations for the Iraq war." <more>

IMHO, subpoena power is the only thing to effectively combat evildoers entrenched in our government.

Mets Or Cardinals..?

Play ball.

Today Is The First Day...

of the rest of your public service.

What's on your mind, Justice Bloggers?

Bully..!

Lynne Stewart Gets 28-Month Sentence

Govt. Had Requested 30 Years for Lawyer

"Mr. Dember ridiculed the defense claim that the prosecution of Ms. Stewart was meant to send a message to lawyers willing to defend the rights of those accused of, or convicted of, terrorist plots.

The prosecution, he said, was brought "not because she represents unpopular clients nor to deter defense counsel from involvement in terrorist-related cases -- or to chill them," he said. "And this had nothing whatsoever to do with 9/11."

He reminded the judge that terrorism prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald had wanted to launch a criminal investigation into Ms. Stewart's actions, but was told to "stand down" because there was an ongoing "intelligence investigation under way."

But Mr. Dratel insisted that the government wanted to "chill" aggressive defense tactics in terror cases and make an example of Ms. Stewart. " <more>

Competition Is A Good Thing...

Big Mo: The tightening field in the House races

I Prefer The Beastie Boys...

Displease a Lobbyist, Get Fired

E-mails show Jack Abramoff's ability to influence White House staffing decisions through his highly placed friends.

"When Justice Department officials relented and released the money for the jail, giddy Abramoff associates planned to host agency officials in a suite at a Dave Matthews concert."

"I have the suite filling up with DOJ staffers who just got our client $16 million," one wrote. Another replied that the agency officials deserve any reward they want, "opening day tickets, Skins v. Giants, oriental massages, hookers, whatever." <more>

AND me and my team always say "NO THANK YOU!" to graft.

Viva De La Vega...

Who Said All Roads Lead to Karl?

TGIF - Open Bar..!

I mean thread.

Rep. Curt Weldon - Well Done...

and well done!

FBI investigating Weldon (R-PA) for influence peddling

I think the boyz at the "Bureau" are working off Melanie's Beyond Delay list!

Just say "No, thank you!" to graft and have a great weekend because Curt won't be... ;)

Quote Of The Century..?

Bush said he would reject "anything that will harm our economy and hurt our American workers."

Climate change inaction will cost trillions: study

Justice Du Jour...

Rep. Bob Ney's time left in Congress = hours unless he holds out for one more paycheck to help pay his legal bills...

Why Does James Baker Hate America..?

Baker's Panel Rules Out Iraq Victory

Way off course, change the course, NOT stay the course - got it?

Profiteering Non-Profits...

Senate Report: Five Nonprofits Sold Out for Jack

"Five conservative nonprofit organizations, including one run by prominent Republican Grover Norquist, "perpetrated a fraud" on taxpayers by selling their clout to lobbyist Jack Abramoff, Senate investigators said in a report issued today."

"The groups are Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform; the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy, which was co-founded by Norquist and Gale Norton before she became Secretary of the Interior; Citizens Against Government Waste; the National Center for Public Policy Research, which was a spinoff of the Heritage Foundation; and Toward Tradition, a religious group founded by Abramoff friend Rabbi Daniel Lapin."

And Sen. McCain thought Italia was such a nice young lady...

Beam Me Up...

Ethics panel questions former Reynolds & Foley aide

Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) will testify before the House ethics committee Friday, Steven Tomaszewski, a spokesman for Shimkus, confirmed today.

Ethics 102 - After you are caught: Never lie under oath.

Happy Thursday...

What's happening? Besides evil doers on the run, what else is new(s)?

Get To Know Me...

and my team in the Northern District of Illinois.

Do You Like My Tie..?

LIVE VIDEO: Watch The News Conference Live At 1 p.m.
Operation Board Games - Pay To Play On Steroids

CHICAGO -- A top adviser and fundraiser for Gov. Rod Blagojevich has been indicted on charges of scheming to collect "millions of dollars in undisclosed kickbacks" involving the Illinois Teachers Retirement System, federal prosecutors disclosed Wednesday.

Businessman Antoin "Tony" Rezko was charged in the federal indictment with operating a fraud scheme along with millionaire political contributor Stuart Levine and other insiders.

The indictment was unsealed Wednesday morning. U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald was to announce details at a news conference scheduled for 1 p.m. CDT.

In Case You Missed Me: Blago Adviser Indicted On Federal Charges

Congressional Kegger..?

Drunk Driving Foley Tried
to Crash Page Party

"A staff supervisor at the dorm for congressional pages intervened when former Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL) tried to pay the teens a nighttime visit in the summer of 2000, ABC News has learned.

The pages were having an informal "mixer" party in their dorm at the Tip O'Neil building behind the Capitol, according to a former page who was 17 at the time.

"It was a beautiful summer evening, and I recall Mr. Foley arriving in his blue Series 3 BMW convertible about 9:30 at night," the former page said. "Several of us saw him and went outside to chat." <more>

"Mark, we hear ya knockin', but ya can't come in!"

It's The Little Things...

that bring a smile to my face every morning :D

It's Truman's Fault..!

for stopping Gen. MacArthur from using nukes on North Korea and China.

Clinton's Office Responds To McCain

Philippe Reines, Sen. Hillary Clinton's spokesman, responds to McCain:

A missile shield alone cannot protect us from the Bush-Cheney Administration’s incompetence in their approach to Iraq, Iran and North Korea, and it is unfortunate that Republicans such as John McCain continue to blindly defend their failed policies for partisan gain rather than exercise true leadership. Five years after 9/11, President Bush has allowed the ‘Axis of Evil’ to spin out of control. Our Iraq policy is a failure. Iran is going nuclear and North Korea is testing nuclear weapons. President Bush’s foreign policy failures have made America less safe, not more so, and it is time for a new direction. Senator Clinton supports a National Missile Defense System that has been tested and actually works. She supports an approach that protects us from the threat of North Korean nuclear weapons, as the Clinton Administration successfully did for eight years.

Blast 'em Burn 'em Turn 'em To Toast...

C.R.E.W. fires back with extreme prejudice....

LIE: The email messages between Rep. Foley and a former page have been in CREW’s possession as far back as April.

FACT: CREW received the emails on July 21, 2006 and promptly sent them to the FBI, and no one else, that same day. CREW did not discuss the email messages or their content with anyone else. The only call CREW’s Executive Director Melanie Sloan made regarding the matter was to the Washington FBI agent to whom she sent the emails to confirm receipt of the messages.

LIE: CREW provided the FBI with incomplete information and heavily redacted emails. CREW refused to disclose the page’s name and contact information to the FBI.

FACT: The emails Ms. Sloan sent to the FBI were not edited or redacted in any way. The page’s full name and email address were in the emails, as was the name and email address of the Congressional staffer to whom the page was sending the emails.

LIE: The FBI investigation into Rep. Foley was hampered because CREW refused to comply with the agency’s request for additional information.

FACT: After CREW sent the emails to the FBI, CREW’s only subsequent contact with the Bureau was one telephone call from the special agent to whom CREW had sent the material confirming that the emails were from Rep. Foley. CREW had no further contact with the

According to several government officials, the FBI sent the emails to three squads: a public corruptions squad, a criminal squad and a cyber-squad. After reviewing the matter, the FBI determined that there wasn't enough evidence at the time to suggest any criminal activity and did not move forward with an investigation.

LIE: Fox News’ Sean Hannity said on October 5, 2006 that CREW had “been bragging about [the emails] on its website as early as July 21st.”

FACT: CREW first posted the emails to www.citizensforethics.org on September 29, 2006, one day after ABC News reported them.

LIE: CREW has been working with ABC on the Foley story and was reporter Brian Ross’ source for the emails.

FACT: Ross told The New York Times he received the emails from Republicans. CREW was not involved in the broadcasting of his story. In fact, Ross didn’t even know that CREW had the emails until after he broke the story.

LIE: Rep. Mark Foley resigned from Congress after CREW posted some of his email exchanges with a former page.

FACT: Brian Ross has reported that Foley resigned hours after ABC questioned him about the sexually explicit internet messages.

LIE: The blog Stop Sex Predators is owned and operated by CREW.

FACT: CREW does not own, operate, or have any connection or involvement with the Stop Sex Predators blog. CREW first heard of the blog in media reports after the Foley scandal broke.

LIE: One of CREW’s funders, George Soros, was behind the Foley scandal and has been directing CREW’s involvement in the case.

FACT: George Soros had no knowledge that CREW had the Foley emails, nor does he have any input over CREW's day to day activities. CREW has not discussed the emails with any donors or Democratic operatives, strategists or staffers. All CREW did was send the messages to the FBI. After ABC broke the story, CREW posted the messages to its website.

LIE: Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) called CREW a “partisan 527 organization” on the October 8, 2006 edition of Fox News Sunday.

FACT: CREW is a nonpartisan and nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization.

LIE: Melanie Sloan of CREW is dating very special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald.

FACT: No comment

Ze Jig Iz Up..!

Tucker Carlson to Evangelicals: Suckers

CARLSON: It goes deeper than that though. The deep truth is that the elites in the Republican Party have pure contempt for the evangelicals who put their party in power. Everybody in…

MATTHEWS: How do you know that? How do you know that?

CARLSON: Because I know them. Because I grew up with them. Because I live with them. They live on my street. Because I live in Washington, and I know that everybody in our world has contempt for the evangelicals. And the evangelicals know that, and they're beginning to learn that their own leaders sort of look askance at them and don't share their values.

MATTHEWS: So this gay marriage issue and other issues related to the gay lifestyle are simply tools to get elected?

CARLSON: That's exactly right. It's pandering to the base in the most cynical way, and the base is beginning to figure it out. <VIDEO>

New found respect for Tucker...just a little.

Hello John-Boy..!

As I was washing my hands last week in the men's room at Whole Foods in DC - I ran into one of Twelve Angry Men - someone dropped their copy of David McCullough's "1776" on the floor - in the stall next to the sink - to make a long story short - it was Richard Thomas.

Afterwards, in the meat department - I told him I enjoyed his body of work - acting - and he said "thank youuuuu" in the most southern drawl any native New Yorker could ever muster - then hung a left towards cheese and disappeared from my life...

Reading is fundamental...but...!

Caption Me..?

Don't Mess With Brooklyn..!

"The most riveting moment of Barbra Streisand's Madison Square Garden concert was one of the only unscripted ones.

Streisand endured jeers as she interjected a political skit into Monday night's show, exchanging zingers with a celebrity impersonator playing George Bush as a bumbling idiot." <more>

Takedown, Exposure, Reversal, Escape..?

I bet Coach Hastert and his roommate Scott Palmer wrestled long and hard all week over this decision...

Those who knew about Foley 'should go'

Cigars & Hotel Bars...

An Imperfect Hero - Joseph Wilson's War

"Novak was a friend of Karl Rove, and Judith Miller had breakfasted with Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis Libby, so many times that they were rumored to be having an affair. And when Woodward appeared on TV talk shows, he behaved almost as if he were a member of the Bush cabinet. All had interesting stories. Wilson began getting fewer messages from journalists. Today it's relatively easy to obtain an interview with him.

Wilson is waiting for things to come together as he watches the cumbersome American judicial system at work. He pays close attention to the respective fates of Dick Cheney, Karl Rove and Lewis Libby. Even during interviews, he maintains the same, consistent approach. He sits in alternating hotel bars in alternating cities, places his mobile phone on a table, gazes at the flat screen TVs behind the bars, keeps answering the same questions and waits for something to happen in the world outside." <more>

An interesting read. I like Spiegel - often ordering shirts and ties from their catalog.

Welcome...

to the nuclear family, Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

I guess "someone" has been sleeping on their watch again.

"He's remarkably optimistic," a Bush insider said. "Like Ronald Reagan, he has a gift for looking beyond the morass in front of him and sticking to his goals, even if it's not popular."

Then why is he so angry?

George Allen - Truth Is Not An Option...

Senator Passes On Disclosing Stock Options

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - For the past five years, Sen. George Allen, has failed to tell Congress about stock options he got for his work as a director of a high-tech company. The Virginia Republican also asked the Army to help another business that gave him similar options.

Congressional rules require senators to disclose to the Senate all deferred compensation, such as stock options. The rules also urge senators to avoid taking any official action that could benefit them financially or appear to do so. <more>

Just say "No, thank you!" to graft.

TIME for Change...

End of the Delusion?

Sex, lies and power games are just the latest symptoms of a party adrift from its ideals

The "Christian" Wrong...

Focus on the family?

False Prophets - Dobson and Henninger claimed Foley scandal is "sort of a joke" and a "prank"

Summary: James Dobson and Daniel Henninger both echoed a claim previously made by Matt Drudge and Michael Savage that the sexually explicit communications that Rep. Mark Foley allegedly engaged in with former congressional pages were "sort of a joke" or a "prank" on the part of the former pages.

Ex-Page Tells of Foley Hook Up

Jesus, what are the chances of you recalling these defective role models.

TGIO...

I love October -changing leaves, trimming dead wood - fresh scents of change in the air.

"As long as the roots are not severed, all is well. And all will be well in the garden. In the garden, growth has it seasons. First comes spring and summer, but then we have fall and winter. And then we get spring and summer again."

Friday Night Art...

from Resident Master d'Artiste Stephen Pitt

More Bumper Stickers..?

I couldn't resist...have a great weekend!