Month: August 2007

Here is a senator speaking against the war:

Never was so momenteous a measure adopted, with so much precipitancy; so little thought; or forced through by such objectionable means.

On the passage of the act recognizing the war, I said to many of my friends, that a deed had been done from which the country would not be able to recover for a long time, if ever.

These deep impressions were made upon my mind, because I saw from the circumstance under which the war was made, a total departure from that course of policy which had governed the country from the commencement of our Government until that time; and this, too, under circumstances calculated to lead to most disastrous consequences.

We begin now to find the misfortune of entering into war without a declaration of war—without a declaration setting forth to the people the causes of the war, and one upon which they may hold the Government responsible.

I should have said that here was a senator speaking against the Mexican war. That was Senator John C. Calhoun in 1846 and 1847.

The Republican Presidential Debate on Sunday as moderated by George Stephanopoulos was yet another attempt by the media to manipulate further the already-manipulated American public. It started off with outrageous introductions that revealed the implied framework of the debate. Each candidate was introduced with his Iowa poll numbers and in order of those numbers. What was the point of this? A debate should be an exchange of ideas weighted by the quality of those ideas. But no, Stephanopoulos knows better. He knows that people should not pay much attention to ideas that come from candidates who “cannot win.” But perhaps the reason some candidates cannot win is because the media doesn’t treat their ideas with respect. But no matter. Good ideas can affect the positions of candidates who “can win.” They can affect the nature of the debate. My sympathies are with Ron Paul, of course. Isn’t it intrinsically interesting that there are conservatives in this country who think that Bush’s Iraq War policy, War on Terror, and related civil liberties record are a disaster? People such as Paul Craig Roberts, Bruce Fein, Bob Barr and others who have made appearances on Antiwar.com. Ron Paul has a lot to say about this kind of “conservatism.” Shouldn’t debates be about learning something you don’t already know? Why was Paul given so little time and then rushed when he received a few seconds to talk? Stephanopoulos had an opportunity to do something useful on Sunday. Instead he just created a political circus.

I spent the morning over at Taki’s Top Drawer, live-blogging the Iowa Republican presidential debate, hosted by George Stephanopoulos. Check it out.

Former Reagan Lawyer: New Executive Order So Broad Even Senator Clinton’s Property Could Be Seized Over Iraq Policy Questions.

[audio:http://dissentradio.com/radio/07_08_03_fein.mp3]

On Friday, former Assistant Deputy Attorney General Bruce Fein, in describing a new “Orwellian” executive order granting the Treasury Department unprecedented power to seize Americans’ property, told Antiwar Radio that the language of the order is so broad that it would be “arguable” that the government could even site Senator Clinton’s requests to the Pentagon for information about withdrawal plans, recently denounced by the Defense Department, as proof of “a significant risk” that she could do something else which might undermine the Iraqi government – and hence lose all her property with no recourse. The rest of us too.

MP3 here.

Bruce Fein, former Assistant Deputy Attorney General in the Reagan administration and co-founder of the American Freedom Agenda, explains the broad powers over Americans’ property claimed by George Bush in his new executive order, “Blocking Property of Certain Persons Who Threaten Stabilization Efforts in Iraq.” Fein says that Senator Hillary Clinton’s property could be seized under this order for “undermining the Iraqi government” by asking the Pentagon if they have a plan for withdrawal, which she was denounced for doing just last week by Deputy Secretary of Defense for Policy, Eric Edelman. Also, the American Freedom Agenda, the Unitary Executive theory, the “living Constitution,” NSA spying, National Security Letters and administrative subpoenas.

Bruce Fein graduated from Harvard Law School with honors in 1972. After a coveted federal judicial clerkship, he joined the U.S. Department of Justice where he served as assistant director of the Office of Legal Policy, legal adviser to the assistant attorney general for antitrust, and the associate deputy attorney general. Mr. Fein then was appointed general counsel of the Federal Communications Commission, followed by an appointment as research director for the Joint Congressional Committee on Covert Arms Sales to Iran. He recently served on the American Bar Association’s Task Force on Presidential signing statements.

[audio:http://dissentradio.com/radio/07_08_03_ridgeway.mp3]

James Ridgeway, DC bureau chief for Mother Jones magazine, discusses his new article, “In Search of John Doe No. 2: The Story the Feds Never Told About the Oklahoma City Bombing;” the ordeal of Utah attorney Jesse Trentadue and his brother Kenneth, who was tortured and murdered by government agents in his Oklahoma prison cell in a case of mistaken identity – they thought he was Richard Guthrie (likely one of the many neo-Nazi “John Does” involved in the Oklahoma City bombing), the Treasury and Justice Department informants inside the plot, complicity by the media and Congress in the cover-up, the DoJ’s prosecution of their own best witness in order to obstruct justice in the McVeigh and Nichols trials, and the possible role of former German army officer Andreas Strassmeir.

MP3 here.

James Ridgeway is Mother Jones’ Washington bureau chief. A longtime Washington correspondent for the Village Voice, Ridgeway helped launch the modern muckraking era when he revealed that General Motors had hired private eyes to spy on a then-obscure consumer advocate named Ralph Nader. The expose prompted hearings on Capitol Hill (in which G.M. President James Roche was eventually forced to apologize to Nader) and made Nader’s book, “Unsafe at Any Speed,” a bestseller.

Ridgeway has written 16 books, including 2005’s “The Five Unanswered Questions About 9/11.” His broad-based national reporting has appeared in publications ranging from Harper’s to The Economist and the New York Times Magazine. He is known for his writing on the American right wing, from the mainstream conservative movement to the far right. He has also reported many international stories, including the coup in Haiti and the democratic revolution in Eastern Europe. Ridgeway co-directed “Blood in the Face,” a companion film to his book by the same name, as well as “Feed,” a documentary on the 1992 presidential campaign. Recently he launched Ridgewayng.com, a web site for short news videos.

See Also: Jesse Trentadue and Mother Jones’ document stash.

The Secret Life of Bill Clinton by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard

Scott’s Complete OKC soundbite file.

Scott’s 4 interviews of recently deceased investigative reporter J.D. Cash here.)

The State Department has had enough!

They see the recent sparring over the issue of whether to nuke or invade Pakistan, or to nuke Saudi Arabia, as irresponsible. (I guess making irresponsible comments on foreign policy is the private domain of the White House.)

The State Department would rather that neither citizens of other nations nor the American people should find out what the future leader of the US proposes to drag us into.