Hand Me That Chainsaw!

-by NOAH


Where have you gone Lizzie Borden. Our nation turns it’s lonely eyes to you, Sure, Miss Lizzie only had an ax and only went after mum and dad, but these are modern times. Today, she’d go high tech. Chainsaw, baby. Let it rip!

So, why am I channeling, figuratively, Lizzie today, you ask? Well, this past week the good ole boy network in Washington took some more steps towards frittering away what’s left of our democracy. It’s just the same old same old ‘you scratch mine and I’ll scratch yours’ back in the Congressional cloakroom. Just like they backed Bush’s illegal war, now they are covering up the tracks on some more Bush Administration high crimes and misdemeanors.

Instead of a real fact finding investigation, John Conyers has invited Karl Rove and Harriet Miers over to Congress to discuss the firing of nine government prosecutors and accusations of selective prosecution such as the Don Siegelman case over tea and watercress sandwiches. This is truly life on the other side of the mirror. Once you get inside the Beltway, a different set of rules is in play and it’s not the set of rules the rest of us are expected to go by. It’s just like in Roman Polanski’s movie Chinatown. The corruption and agendas are so convoluted that only the thugs can thrive. If Polanski could come back to the U.S., he could do a similar movie and call it Washington. Jack Nicholson could play Jake Gittes, the investigator, frustrated at every turn, again.

Anyway, Rove and Miers wouldn’t come in even after being served a subpoena, so Congress, which had the power to send out the Sergeant at Arms and drag them in anyway, a power granted by a document that the Bush administration regarded as quaint called The Constitution, said, “OK, under what terms will you please, pretty please come over and deign to talk to us, oh those who we truly are not worthy to speak to?”

Congress gave up its right to hold administration officials in contempt and throw them in prison, and legitimized the White House position by allowing them to take it up in court. The result is that Conyers is now holding a dog and pony show supposedly about “getting to the bottom of things” regarding Rove and Miers’ roles in the Siegelman case and the firing of the nine prosecutors back in 2006, presumably because they wouldn’t play ball with Rove and Miers in the rampant politicization of the U.S. Justice Department, a Justice Department that, until so-called President Bush came along, prided itself on staying out of partisan politics.

All of that changed, of course, when Texas tin horn dictator Bush began squatting in the White House and began using our Justice Department just like any Saddam Hussein or General Pinochet would; a personal police force designed to cement power by any means, legal or not, and go after political opponents. All of this Conyers tea party will go on hidden from the cameras, of course. It’s "we don’t need no stinking public hearings." Obviously, there’ll be lots of nice nudge, nudge, wink, wink. This is beyond disgusting and despicable. The lack of respect for democracy and the American people just continues to rise in the Inside the Beltway bullshit factory that is our government. Remember, one branch, the “Supreme” Court, installed Bush, then you had the crimes of the illegitimate Bush executive branch. Now you have the third branch, Congress, covering the tracks. There you go, our three branches of government, working as a unit to defile The Constitution the founding fathers wrote for us. It’s all nice and neat, isn’t it?

Obviously, to say the least, this whole nonsense about lightweight half-assed hearings, investigations and truth commissions is really buggin’ me. I’d welcome a pleasant surprise but no truth will be committed. It rarely is. Back towards the end of last year, I made the comment in one of my posts, that all we’d ever get out of the frauds that allegedly represent us is another one or two of those patented Washington, DC cover-up commissions. Well, now, here they come. Our government is expecting us to fall for the old Blue Ribbon Commission/behind closed door hearing diversion trick, but a viewable by the public Commission or hearing without an Independent Special Prosecutor has no teeth. It is a deliberate Washington game designed as a substitute for enforcing the law. A few little bones are thrown. The media writes a few minor headlines, and poof, it’s all over. The culprits go back to their golf game and come up with new schemes.

Even with an Independent Special Prosecutor, and holding hearings live on TV so that we all can see and hear what is going on, a certain amount of luck is required if we’re going to find out anything significant and receive any justice at all. I’m old enough that I remember how the Watergate hearings were making good daily theater but, despite the testimony of Nixon counsel John Dean (more recently, author of Worse Than Watergate), nothing of real substance was being revealed. It wasn’t until Alexander Butterfield, at the tail end of a session casually mentioned a White House taping system. It went by so fast that the immediate implication didn’t even hit most of the people in the room. As they say, the rest is history. A battle over the tapes ensued, Nixon’s role in the Watergate crimes was revealed, and he was forced to resign if he wanted to keep his pension and a staff. This time, we don’t even get a Independent Special Prosecutor? No live broadcast? What are we the people supposed to find out? The answer is obvious, nothing at all.

Remember, The Warren Commission was a closed door affair. How did that turn out? With the 9/11 Commission, Bush and Cheney were allowed to go in together, holding each others’ hands behind closed doors and, also, not under oath, so what did we learn about 9/11? The investigation of George W. Bush and his criminal enterprise is every bit as serious as 9/11, Watergate, or who murdered JFK. We don’t need another crap artist like Arlen Specter coming up with another crackpot “single bullet theory.” We need the truth, the whole truth. We can handle it. If we don’t get the truth, and if the perps don’t feel the weight of justice, all we’ll get is another conspiracy cottage industry for the next 100 years!

John Conyers is going to interview Karl Rove and Harriet Miers and interview is about it, not interrogate, and it will be under the terms of a VERY narrow agreement. If detectives were forced to work under such constraints, they’d just go open a bar on an island somewhere and bartend for a living. Anything would be more satisfying. One of the things that the media hacks have missed on this whole matter is that the agreement that Conyers has accepted sure looks a lot like the one he rejected a year ago, and, as you can see in the agreement itself.

Rove and Miers can still claim “executive privilege” if anyone were to actually throw in a question about their dear Bushie. Again, Rove and Miers won’t even be under oath. As far as I can determine, the mainstream media, except for Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow have confused, deliberately or not, the concepts of “under penalty of perjury” and “swearing an oath,” equating the two. They are not quite the same thing. If they were, Rove and Miers would have no problem agreeing to both. Why can’t the miscreants take an oath before they give their litany of “I can’t recalls” and “I have no recollections?”

No less an expert on Rove than nasty little satan Georgie Bush’s former Press Secretary, Scott McClellan, was already asked in Congress whether he would trust Rove’s answers if Rove was not under oath. His answer was a resounding no. So, even after this, Congress goes and tells Rove that he doesn’t have to answer their questions under oath. Is the fix in? You decide. Granted, perjury before Congress is a serious affront to the law, but, why no oath? What’s the loophole? If there is no loophole, why did Rove and Miers decline to swear an oath for this proceeding?

Perhaps the thing that amazes me the most about all of this is the euphoria being expressed by progressives that Rove is now going before Congress. Are we really that gullible? Are we wishing for something so much here that the superficiality and game of all of this goes right over our heads? Obviously, Congress holds us in almost as much disregard as Rove, et al. At the same time, over in the Senate, Senator Patrick Leahy wants a truth and reconciliation commission. Reconcile what? I don’t want reconciliation. I want these fuckers in jail for the rest of their days, crawling around in their own filth, like the good old days, in a rat-infested dungeon. Rove is a noxious, twisted sociopath of a punk. Period. Dirty Harry Callahan should be running the Senate and firing the questions off at the punk. Instead we’re plagued with Wimpy-ass Harry Reid in the Senate, and John Conyers in the House fiddling away while our modern day Rome burns to ashes.

Investigate, prosecute and imprison BushCo to the letter of the law. We have the means. Congress has the means, if not the will or desire. Our government is expecting us to fall for a pantomime investigation. Traditionally, a few little bones are thrown. The media writes a few minor headlines, and poof, it’s all over. The culprits are back on the talk show and Beltway cocktail circuit. Dems in Congress talk of "investigating" the "possible" wrongs of BushCo as if it hasn't already been done. Here's a nice catalog of reasons put together already by AfterDowningStreet.org of why BushCo should be brought to justice. All in one place. One stop shpping.

Instead, we get wimpoid Dems like Senator Leahy who just want a "Truth" and Reconciliation Coverup that gives immunity (get out of jail free cards) to vermin like Karl Rove and his co-conspirators while they gloss over the whole story and prepare a sanitized version of events for our consumption, just like they did with The 9/11 Commission, Watergate Commission, and The Warren Commission.

Maybe the thing that amazes me the most is that Leahy once publicly stated that he wanted to know who tried to kill him with government grade anthrax. Don’t gloss over those last three words. The anthrax that was sent to Leahy doesn’t just appear out of somebody’s basement chemistry kit. Now he talks about reconciling! Even the usually reliable Conyers is selling us all out by negotiating for Rove's appearance at all. Negotiate? Haul him in there in cuffs. No deal. Even then, without a deal, Rove would be getting off easy. In the majority of countries on this planet, he'd be dragged in by pick up truck, land surfing style, and be DEAD already. He's lucky his bloated face doesn't already look like it's been used for a soccer ball. “You like torture, kinky boy? Well, heeeeeere ya go, a punishment to fit your crimes!” How would I hold the hearings in my dreamworld? I'd tie Rove to a chair and put that chair in the middle of a six foot deep pit full of cobras and rattlesnakes, lowering it down while Conyers, or maybe, Steven Seagal fires questions at him on prime time TV. Now, that's what I call a REALITY SHOW! Watch that smug miscreant Rove sweat and shake himself to death while the snakes chew on him and his heart explodes.

Instead, what do we get? Rove and Miers are being allowed to appear on their own terms! Rove will be the whirling dervish of obfuscation and Miers will be telling Congress how super awesome Bushie is, issue a million “I can’t recalls,” praise her Jesus and go home to watch her Left Behind cartoons. Conyers and his cohorts have agreed not to ask two of Bush’s main deputies about any conversations they had with members of the Bush White House “legal” team, or, little satan Georgie himself.

Also, Conyers has sold out the right to see, as the deal papers say “four pages of particularly sensitive privileged material.” Instead it will be described to Conyers’ panel by one of Bush’s representatives! Wow. I feel really confident that that description will be real accurate! This is no deal. This is another typical Washington farce. The testimony will be in the form of transcripts of Rove and Miers interview/deposition sessions, under penalty of perjury (nebulous at best), but not under oath. And, we’re supposed to trust our so-called representatives who aren’t allowing us to see the hearings and take their word as to what is said; these same people who took impeachment off the table and who supported an illegal war?

Folks, Rove and Miers can perjure themselves all day long and we’ll never know it. Keep in mind that Rove was permitted to go back and “correct” his testimony five times during the Scooter Libby case. The agreement says the transcripts may be published. Look at the wording. What is the definition of "may?" One lawyer can say it’s "might." Another lawyer can say it’s "it’s ok to." Even if they do get published, I can just imagine how many times they will be spruced up for our consumption. We’ll never know without the TV cameras.

Conyers is playing up what he got in the deal, which includes the right to ask these two balls of oozing slime to testify in public, so why not just go ahead and do it, on live TV just like the Watergate investigation? Why all of the subterfuge? Conyers also says that Congress could revive its federal lawsuit of White House sleazemeisters if they don’t live up to their end of the deal, But, don’t hold your breath waiting for any of that. Besides, how hard is it for Rove and Miers to live up to such a no risk deal? In DC-speak, "could" means something along the lines of “we’ll forget about doing it as soon as we tell you we could do it.”

Conyers originally sued when the Bush White House refused to have it’s gang appear before Congress voluntarily. The thing is, like I said before, voluntarily or not has nothing to do with this. Congress has the power to drag people before it if they refuse a subpoena, which is what Rove did. In other words, no dealing, negotiating, or sell out was even necessary. This whole thing is just for show. Rove’s attorney, Robert Luskin says the agreement is “good news” and that his client “looks forward” to addressing the committee’s concerns.” Damn right. Why wouldn’t he? We’ve gone from investigation and interrogation to “addressing concerns.” Rove will be sitting there with a pina colada in hand, looking at his watch. My disgust-o-meter has broken through its top and runneth over. Everything old is new again. Chainsaw, please!

Republicans To America: Stop Your Whining, Stop Your Exaggerating And Get To Work

I've been house-hunting with my friend Roland. There are a lot of houses on the market and an awful lot of them are either owned by banks (foreclosures) or are being offered as "short sales" (a pre-foreclosure sale by an owner with the bank agreeing to take a loss). And these sales are in every price range and in every neighborhood. One broker told us that one in nine houses in America has been foreclosed or is in the process of being foreclosed on. I was shocked; I still am. I wonder if he's exaggerating, something I want to come back to in a moment.

Last week my financial advisor-- a senior vice president at the biggest bank in America (and I think the world)-- told me every cent I have in banks needs to be insured by FDIC, no two ways about it. She also told me what she expected to happen this weekend on Wall Street. Her prediction was dismal. Reality was worse. I guess everyone already knew Lehman Bros was on the verge of collapse. Merrill Lynch was a shock.

In one the most extraordinary days in Wall Street’s in history, Merrill Lynch is near an 11th-hour deal with Bank of America to avert a deepening financial crisis while another storied securities firm, Lehman Brothers, hurtled toward liquidation, according to people briefed on the deal.

Bank of America has offered $50 billion or $29 a share for Merrill Lynch, people briefed on the negotiations said. Merrill shares closed at $17.05 on Friday.

The dramatic turn of events was prompted by the cataclysm of losses that has shaken the American financial industry over the last 14 months.

The moves came after a weekend of frantic negotiations between federal officials and Wall Street executives over how to avert a downward spiral in the markets. Questions still remain about how the market will react and whether other firms may still falter like A.I.G., the large insurer, and Washington Mutual, both of whose stocks fell precipitously last week.

Coming just a week after the government took control of mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the magnitude of the industry’s reshaping is staggering: two of the most powerful firms on Wall Street, Merrill Lynch and Lehman, will disappear.

The weekend’s once unthinkable outcome came after a series of emergency meetings at the Federal Reserve building in downtown Manhattan in which the fate of Lehman hung in the balance. In the meeting Federal Reserve officials and the leaders of major financial institutions were trying to complete a plan to rescue the stricken investment bank.

But as the weekend unfolded, Barclays and Bank of America, which had both considered buying all or part of Lehman, decided that they could not reach a deal without financial support from the federal government or other banks.

As a result, people briefed on the matter said late Sunday that Lehman Brothers would file for bankruptcy protection, in the largest failure of an investment bank since the collapse of Drexel Burnham Lambert 18 years ago.

Most people who know of Donald Luskin's work know him as a purveyor of the GOP tenets of extreme Greed and Selfishness in Republican Party media outlets like National Review and on Larry Kudlow's CNBC propaganda program. A shady hedge fund predator, Luskin has made himself a darling of reactionaries by distorting economic news and attacking Paul Krugman's NY Times columns. Needless to say Luskin is also part of the McCain economic team.

So weren't we surprised yesterday to see him in a legitimate newspaper, the Washington Post which didn't bother warning readers that they were reading a distorted McCain advertisement disguised as journalism? His piece, reminiscent of his-- and McCain's-- pal Phil Gramm's "Nation of Whiners" screed, was called A Nation of Exaggerators: Quit Doling Out That Bad-Economy Line. Although many see the comparisons between the 1929 Wall Street meltdown that presaged the Great Depression and today's activities on Wall Street, Luskin, like Gramm, thinks it's all just psychological. This is where McCain, who admits he is clueless about economics and "out of touch" with the day to day lives of normal Americans-- other than the dozens of servants who work in his innumerable homes-- gets his economic policies from. Most people say blame for the economic collapse can be spread out evenly throughout the GOP (and the Republican wing of the Democratic Party-- Blue Dogs and such corporately bought trash) but others think Gramm deserves a larger share of the blame than many others.

Like Palin, Phil Gramm-- who got a time out a few weeks ago, has been back in the saddle on the Double Talk Express-- is another example of McCain's horrendous judgment. Luskin, a notorious delusional wingnut, is singing "Happy Days Are Here Again."

Things today just aren't that bad. Sure, there are trouble spots in the economy, as the government takeover of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and jitters about Wall Street firm Lehman Brothers, amply demonstrate. And unemployment figures are up a bit, too. None of this, however, is cause for depression-- or exaggerated Depression comparisons.

Overall, the pessimists are up against an insurmountable reality: In the last reported quarter, the U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 3.3 percent, adjusted for inflation. That's virtually the same as the 3.4 percent average growth rate since-- yes-- the Great Depression.

Why, then, does the public appear to agree with the media? A recent Zogby poll shows that 66 percent of likely voters believe that "the entire world is either now locked in a global economic recession or soon will be." Actually, that's a major clue to what started this thought-contagion about everything being the worst it has been "since the Great Depression": Politics.

He then, in the mode of the entire McCain campaign, goes on to blame Obama. Anyone who votes for McCain deserves four more years of the Bush Economic Miracle. Unfortunately, if there are enough of them, we all get that deadly virus. And while McCain's blowhards are denying everything, claiming Americans are bellyachers and whiners and that we don't work hard enough, Paul Krugman is trying to school ideologically-driven mental midgets like Gramm and Luskin and Kudlow. In their psychotic mania to destroy the federal regulatory controls that FDR and Democrats put in place to protect consumers and workers from another economic collapse caused by unregulated predatory capitalism, the Republican extremists have severely damaged the entire system. Right about now thank your lucky stars that Bush and McCain lost their battle to wreck Social Security through "privatization."

Early this morning Joe Biden spoke to voters in St Clair Shores, Michigan, reminding them that in movieland, "the sequel is always worse than the original."

If we forget this history, we're going to be doomed to repeat it -- with four more just like the last eight, or worse.
 
If you're ready for four more years of George Bush, John McCain is your man. Just as George Herbert Walker Bush was nicknamed "Bush 41" and his son is known as "Bush 43," John McCain could easily become known as "Bush 44."
 
The campaign a person runs says everything about the way they'll govern. John McCain has decided to bet the house on the politics perfected by Karl Rove.   
 
Those tactics may be good at squeaking by in an election but they are bad if you want to lead one nation, indivisible. 

...Take a hard look at the positions John has taken for the past 26 years, on the economy, on health care, on foreign policy… and you'll see why I say that John McCain is just four more years of George Bush. 
 
On the issues that you talk about around the kitchen table, Mary's tuition, the cost of the MRI, heating the home this winter--  John McCain is profoundly out of touch.

...John McCain stands with George Bush firmly in the corner of the wealthy and well-connected. 
 
He stands with the oil company CEOs who swore to me, under penalty of perjury, that they didn't need tax breaks to explore for oil.
 
John McCain is so firmly in their corner he'd hand the Exxon-Mobils of the world another $4 billion dollars a year.
 
He stands in the corner of the wealthiest Americans by extending tax cuts for people making over a quarter million dollars a year, and then adding more than $300 billion on top of that for corporations and the wealthy. 
 
There is simply no daylight-- at least none I can see-- between John McCain and George Bush.  On every major challenge we face, from the economy, to health care, to education and Iraq, you can barely tell them apart.

UPDATE: McCAIN DEMONSTRATES ONCE AGAIN THAT HE KNOWS NOTHING WHATSOEVER ABOUT THE ECONOMY

Despite the McCain campaign's claims that "the fundamentals of the economy are strong" and that "we've made great progress economically during the Bush years," most Americans know well that the economic problems go beyond Wall Street. No one other than McCain would be surprised to hear that industrial output plunged by over 1% in August.