10
POPSBush or Obama: The Quiz 5. While Obama criticized Bush for "a doubling of the national debt," the federal debt held by the public went from 35.1% of GDP in 2000 to 40.8% of GDP in 2008 -- an increase of 16% as of fraction of GDP. What is it expected to be in 2016 under Obama's budget plan? 6. Obama criticized Bush for Guantanamo, military tribunals, wiretaps, troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and "signing statements." Which one of these Bush practices has Obama ended?
1
POPS 6 Arrested in Inside Trade Case Robert Khuzami, director of enforcement at the Securities and Exchange Commission, said the charges show Rajaratnam's "secret of success was not genius trading strategies." "He is not the master of the universe. He is a master of the Rolodex," Khuzami said. Rajaratnam, 52, was ranked No. 559 by Forbes magazine this year among the world's wealthiest billionaires, with a $1.3 billion net worth. Also charged in the scheme are Rajiv Goel, 51, of Los Altos, California, a director of strategic investments at Intel Capital, the investment arm of Intel Corp., Anil Kumar, 51, of Santa Clara, California, a director at McKinsey & Co. Inc., a global management consulting firm, and Robert Moffat, 53, of Ridgefield, Connecticut, senior vice president and group executive at International Business Machines Corp.'s Systems and Technology Group. The others charged in the case were identified as Danielle Chiesi, 43, and Mark Kurland, 60, both of New York City.
0
POPSPatriot Act Excesses What the NY TIMES also says in this editorial is that "The issue has never been whether the government should vigorously pursue terrorists;no responsible person is suggesting that.The question is what powers the government really needs and how best to balance them with the rights and liberties on which this nation was founded."
2
POPSCIA Removed from Interrogation functions I think this is what this clip indicated. Prior to this, right away, the new President Obama said No More Torture, and some other positive things to reverse Bush era abuses (restoring proper judicial requirements for wiretaps, etc.) But now, instead of saying the CIA, the military and others must abide by proper standards and USA law...it more dramatically removes the CIA from this role of interrogations. Another good step in restoring our laws and principles.
8
POPSThe Web of Language But in 2004 the FCC started going after stations not just for repeated obscenity, but also for any single off-hand f-word, for example when Cher said of her critics during a Billboard Music Awards show, “So f*** ‘em,” or when Bono said during the Golden Globes, “This is really, really, f***ing brilliant.” Cable is not covered by the rule, nor are FBI wiretaps, so when Illinois ex-Gov. Blagojevich called his power to sell Pres. Obama’s vacated senate seat “f***ing golden,” his use of an expletive wasn’t illegal, though that proved to be the least of the indicted governor's problems.
8
POPSBombshell (!) in Israeli-USA Spy Network Case
I'm glad this reporter summed up yesterday's revelations (see clip) -- and he did a good job -- because it would have stretched the limits of my own incredulousness to do so. 1. Serious Israeli spying on the USA. (Not accusation. Guy in jail for 12 years; previous cases, guys in jail) 2. These two Israeli lobbyist from AIPAC are facing trial for being involved but real heavy-duty machinations keep getting the trial postponed. 3. Jewish Congresswoman Jane Harmon tells the Jewish Lobby and Israeli agents she will help quash the trial of the two AIPAC lobbyist if they can use their influence to get her nominated to become head of the House Intelligence Committee. 4. This is caught on tap in a legal wiretap that was on the AIPAC accused Israeli spies. 5. AG Gonzales (this was a year ago,Bush president) stops any investigation of Congresswoman Harmon by the NSA in exchange for her supporting Bush era illegal warrantless wiretaping of US citizens. Wow! This can't go on.
12
POPSSecret Bush Memo Authorizing Warrantless Seizure Of 'Terror Suspects' Released
Fourth Amendment protections against unwarranted search and seizure, for instance, did not apply in the United States as long as the president was combatting terrorism, the Justice Department said in an Oct. 23, 2001, memo. Story continues below "First Amendment speech and press rights may also be subordinated to the overriding need to wage war successfully," Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Yoo wrote, adding later: "The current campaign against terrorism may require even broader exercises of federal power domestically." On Sept. 25, 2001, Yoo discussed possible changes to the laws governing wiretaps for intelligence gathering. In that memo, he said the government's interest in keeping the nation safe following the terrorist attacks might justify warrantless searches. That memo did not specifically attempt to justify the government's warrantless wiretapping program, but it provided part of the foundation.
1
POPSTerrifying Memos from Bush Administration Released by Obama Just be deemed a "terror suspect" and many of your constitutional rights could be suspended some Bush administration memos held. Even freedom of the press and speech were potentially on the chopping block. All the memos apparently were in force until a few days before the Bush administration closed shop. Obama signed an order negating the biding nature of the memos. But don't let that cause you to believe that anything has changed from the Bush administration to the Obama administration. (I'm being sarcastic.)
1
POPSThe biggest hypocrite in America. Bill Moyers The Church documents detailed the government's notorious campaign against Martin Luther King Jr.--a series of wiretaps and other surveillance, covering King from his home to his hotel rooms, which began under President Kennedy and accelerated under Johnson. Hoover routinely forwarded the results, including accounts of King's sexual activities, to the Johnson White House, and on at least one occasion Moyers forwarded a Hoover report on King throughout the executive branch.
1
POPSYes, We Need a Bush Era Truth Commission! A truth commission regarding the Bush-era's practices in the "war on terrorism" (as if one can sensibly declare war on a tactic) is much in order. The lies that led to attacking and occupying Iraq, the reports of torture and extraordinary rendition for the purposes of torture, the warrantless wiretaps, the targeting of peace groups for investigation--all of that needs to be addressed by a forum like a truth commission. But to make it objective and credible, it should be run through the auspices of the United Nations. Since the policies of the Bush administration had extra-national impact, it is only proper that other nations have a voice in the investigation.
0
POPSThomas Tamm - Leaker and Criminal When the Obama Justice Department gets operational, the new Attorney General will decide whether to continue investigating Tamm. That decision presumably will be made with guidance from the White House and President Obama. Obama was a vocal opponent of the terrorist surveillance program, although he ultimately voted for Congress' authorization of a very similar program in the midst of the presidential campaign, angering many on the left. Obama will have to decide whether he wants to uphold federal law and protect sensitive information by vigorously pursuing people like Mr. Tamm who violate the public trust.
3
POPSBill Moyers-wire tapper He should probably first ask that of himself. Bush's surveillance programs — whatever you think of their legality — are at the very least targeted at terrorists. Back in the good old days when Moyers was part of the Johnson administration, he had no problem with wiretaps simply as matter of personal political gain. From Morley Safer's memoir, Flashbacks:
1
POPSThe Blagojevich Case: Why Did Fitzgerald Act Now? Then, it skips forward to a conversation that took place on December 4. That suggests the conversations that took place in the three weeks after November 13 broke no new ground, as far as Blagojevich’s corrupt plans were concerned. And then, on December 4, something changed, and that change was the presence of the person referred to in the complaint as “Candidate Five.” If the complaint is correct, in “Candidate Five,” Blagojevich finally found a prospective senator who might come up with money — $500,000 for Blagojevich’s political organization — in return for the Obama seat. From the criminal complaint: On December 4, 2008, ROD BLAGOJEVICH spoke to Advisor B and informed Advisor B that he was giving Senate Candidate 5 greater consideration for the Senate seat because, . . .
2
POPSIllinois Gov. Arrested Over Obama Seat; Obama Denies Knowledge Patrick (Bulldog) Fitzgerald, the squeaky clean federal prosecutor of Libby in the Plame case, is the one behind this arrest, so you can bet it will stick. This is politics, Chicago style, where the government IS the mafia. This is where Obama got his start too, raising questions of course about how he got into power so swiftly on a fast track to become President. The context of this is most interesting and Drudge filled his front page with eight articles on the subject. If only the Feds would wire tap more Governors and politicians instead of conducting wide surveillance on the American people perhaps things would really "change" for the better.
0
POPSBUSTED! I guess Blagojevich should have been worried about his own personal integrity and less about playing Big Brother by censoring the experiences of others!
5
POPS Obama and Ayers: A Radical Pentagon Bomber NYTimes
Since earning a doctorate in education at Columbia in 1987, Mr. Ayers has been a professor of education at the University of Illinois at Chicago, the author or editor of 15 books, and an advocate of school reform. Steve Chapman, a columnist for The Chicago Tribune, defended Mr. Obama’s relationship with the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., his longtime pastor, whose black liberation theology and “God damn America” sermon became notorious last spring. But he denounced Mr. Obama for associating with Mr. Ayers, whom he said the University of Illinois should never have hired. “I don’t think there’s a statute of limitations on terrorist bombings,” Mr. Chapman said in an interview. The Schools Project The Ayers-Obama connection first came to public attention last spring, when both Senator Hilary Rodham Clinton, Mr. Obama’s Democratic primary rival, and Mr. McCain brought it up. the archives of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge at the University of Illinois were opened to rese
3
POPSSecret Spying Court Stays Secret ACLU: "The Bush administration says that the new law is necessary to protect the country against terrorism, but there's nothing in the law that prevents the government from monitoring the communications of innocent Americans," Jaffer said in a written statement. "The intelligence court should not be deciding important constitutional issues in secret judicial opinions issued after secret hearings at which only the government is permitted to appear."
1
POPSFormer US Atty: Ashcroft Forced Out For the record, Iglesias is pushing a new book, " In Justice ." Still, this doesn't really seem all that wild an accussation, given the history of the Bush admin. and Iglesia's own story.
1
Pops
Newest Clips
Latest Comments
Most Pops
Print
Save
Turn on live update