PittsburghThoughts

From the latest issue of The Progressive, Watch Those Executive Orders by Matthew Rothschild:

On July 17, Bush issued· an executive order entitled "Blocking Property of Certain Per­sons Who Threaten Stabilization Efforts in Iraq." This order gives the Secretary of the Treasury the authority to freeze the assets of any person oppos­ing Bush's Iraq policy who may have committed an act of violence, or anyone who even poses "a signifi­cant risk of committing" such an act. And your assets are grass if you "assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, logistical, or technical support" for others committing such acts.

The acts that are now verboten would have "the purpose or effect of: (A) threatening the peace or sta­bility of Iraq or the Government of Iraq; or (B) undermining efforts to promote economic recon­struction and political reform in Iraq or to provide humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people."

The International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977, which Bush cites as the authority for such an order, is intended to apply to foreign countries and foreign nationals, not to U.S. citizens. But this exec­utive order is worded so loosely that it applies to "any person." And it says that "any transaction by a Unit­ed States person" who "attempts to violate any of the prohibitions set forth in this order is prohibited."

So what could this mean in practice? The Secretary of the Treasury might be able to put a freeze on your financial assets, including your home:

If you are at an· anti-Iraq War protest and the Treasury Secretary asserts that you "pose a significant risk" of breaking a window.

Or if you throw a pie in the face of a legislator­say, Senator Joe Lieberman-as a way of drawing 'attention to his support for the war.

Or if you set up a speaking engagement for, or buy lunch for, an Iraqi oil worker who might have damaged a pipeline or burned an American flag to protest the oil bill that Bush wants the Iraqi parliament to pass-a bill that would give away that country's oil to Exxon­Mobil and other multinationals.

What's more, the language in this executive order could create an endless chain of repression. Any per­son who even is "purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly," someone whose property has been frozen by this order will also have his or her property frozen.

 So the Treasury Secretary could freeze your broth­er's house on the specious grounds that your brother might be violent at an anti-war protest, and if you hire a lawyer to help your brother with his case, both you and the lawyer you hire could have your financial assets, including your homes, frozen.

On August 1, a second "Executive Order" was issued, this one regarding Lebanon. Again, from the above mentioned article:

This executive order is harsher than the July 17 one in another way, as well. It gives the Treasury' Secretary the authority to freeze the assets of "a spouse or dependent child of any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order."

Like the executive order on Iraq, this one also bans the provision of food, clothing, and medicine to any­one whose assets are frozen.

Representative Dennis Kucinich denounced this executive order as "reckless." He said it was part of Bush's "strategy to destabilize the region by targeting Syria and Iran."

It also is part of Bush's strategy to aggrandize the Executive Branch.

These orders will eventually be used to arrest and punish protestors. The monitoring and infiltration of protest groups is nothing new, nor is the incitation of violence by shadow government agencies.

On October 17, 2006 President Bush signed into law (PL 109-364) which has a provocative provision called “Use of the Armed Forces in Major Public Emergencies.” From Dying Freedoms Alert: We Just Repealed Posse Comitatus! « Renegade Waiter:

This administration has been laying the foundations of tyranny from day one and has grabbed every catastrophe and tragedy, particularly 9-11 to further it's goals. You can cite any number of conspiracy theories to explain this power lust but that's not the point. The point is: it's happening and opposition is now a crime.    Gene

Bush and Gonzales go down in history,

IF, you can stomach it, watch this video. After laying out just how wonderful Alberto Gonzales is and was, Bush adopts his best righteously indignant tone of voice and mourns how his good and true, humble and loyal, talented and somehow very creepy, friend, Alberto Gonzales, was dragged through the...mud.

Those three dots (...) designate the pause in Bush's speech pattern. Is it my imagination or does Bush pause between "the" and "mud" to turn a page? He's not familiar enough with the phrase to wing it? He has to read it?

What else could he have been dragged through Mr. Bush? SHIT? We can only grin at the visual. Blood? NO, Mr. Bush, that's what you have done to hundreds of thousands. How about; dragged through mildly disturbing congressional hearings in an attempt to get to the truth?

Until the end he was like you, Mr. Bush, given a pass on his viciousness and disregard for checks and balances, congressional approval the Constitution and international human rights.

And now, Mr. Bush, you have one less person to fluff up the pillows of your imagination. You will, one day, have to leave your bed of lies and blood soaked sheets to be dragged through the...mud...of history and truth.

Farewell my shining star, though darkness is upon me, we will always be together.

Instead of fighting McConnell's version of the FISA bill earlier this month, Congress caved and vowed to fight another day, another day when they'll be in the thick of an election cycle and looking weak on terror will be antithetical to being reelected. Yes. Senator, the dead reckoning of cooler heads will prevail in six months, but not to fix FISA but to pander to the vocal minority that cannot grasp what it ultimately means to throw the baby out with the bath water and give up our rights for the security of a police state.

 Dear Mr. XXXX,

Thank you for taking the time to contact me regarding legislation amending the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) of 1978. I appreciate hearing from you about this important issue.

After careful thought and deliberation, I voted for two competing versions of temporary legislation to fix the FISA on Friday, August 3^rd, and voiced my extreme discontent with the Bush Administration’s irresponsible handling of this issue. Before the Senate adjourned for the August recess, I wanted to ensure that our intelligence community has the tools it needs to target terrorists while a larger review of the FISA law is conducted. The version of the bill introduced by my colleagues, Senators Bond and McConnell, gained the necessary 60 votes for final Senate passage while the language introduced by Senators Rockefeller and Levin, fell short. On Saturday, August 4^th, the House of Representatives passed an identical version of the Bond-McConnell bill and President Bush subsequently signed it into law.

The Bond-McConnell version, supported by the White House, is far from ideal and I deplore the tactics employed by the Bush Administration to push its agenda through the politics of fear. This revision to FISA law will sunset in six months. I look forward to a thorough review when cooler heads can prevail, which is needed for a permanent FISA fix that keeps America safe from terrorists while also safeguarding the rights of our citizens.

Again, thank you for sharing your thoughts with me. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future about this or any other matter of importance to you.

If you have access to the Internet, I encourage you to frequently visit my web site, http://casey.senate.gov. In the months ahead, I will continue to develop the site in order to allow you to stay up-to-date on my work in Washington. If you wish to e-mail me, you can do so on the web site.



Sincerely,
Bob Casey
United States Senator

The U.S.'s top intelligence official has greatly expanded the range of federal and local authorities who can get access to information from the nation's vast network of spy satellites in the U.S.

The decision, made three months ago by Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell, places for the first time some of the U.S.'s most powerful intelligence-gathering tools at the disposal of domestic security officials. The move was authorized in a May 25 memo sent to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff asking his department to facilitate access to the spy network on behalf of civilian agencies and law enforcement.

Read the rest:

U.S. to Expand Domestic Use Of Spy Satellites - WSJ.com

Kingston Trio - Where Have All The Flowers Gone.mp3 

This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Viacom International Inc. The following is a complete analysis of the legalities involved:

I hope that explains up why you can't watch Jon Stewart' examination of the billions upon billions of dollars, oil and arms that have disappeared in Iraq. Gene

just so you know:

•I attacked and took over 2 countries.

•I spent the U.S. surplus and bankrupted the US Treasury.

•I shattered the record for the biggest annual deficit in history (not easy!).

•I set an economic record for the most personal bankruptcies filed in any 12 month period.

•I set all-time record for the biggest drop in the history of the stock market.

•In my first year in office I set the all-time record for most days on vacation by any president in US history (tough to beat my dad's, but I did).

•After taking the entire month of August off for vacation, I presided over the worst security failure in US history.

•I set the record for most campaign fund raising trips by any president in US history.

•In my first two years in office over 2 million Americans lost their jobs.

•I cut unemployment benefits for more out-of-work Americans than any other president in US history.

•I set the all-time record for most real estate foreclosures in a 12-month period.

•I set the record for the fewest press conferences of any president, since the advent of TV.

•I presided over the biggest energy crises in US history and refused to intervene when corruption was revealed.

•I cut health care benefits for war veterans.

•I set the all-time record for most people worldwide to simultaneously take to the streets to protest me (15 million people), shattering the record for protest against any person in the history of mankind.

•I dissolved more international treaties than any president in US history.

•I've made my presidency the most secretive and unaccountable of any in US history.

•Members of my cabinet are the richest of any administration in US history. (The poorest multimillionaire, Condoleeza Rice, had a Chevron oil tanker named after her for a while.)

•I am the first president in US history to have all 50 states of the Union simultaneously struggle against bankruptcy.

•I presided over the biggest corporate stock market fraud in any market in any country in the history of the world.

•I am the first president in US history to order a US attack AND military occupation of a sovereign nation, and I did so against the will of the United Nations and the vast majority of the international community.

•I have created the largest government department bureaucracy in the history of the United States, called the "Bureau of Homeland Security

•I set the all-time record for biggest annual budget spending increases, more than any other president in US history (Ronnie was tough to beat, but I did it!!).

•I am the first president in US history to compel the United Nations remove the US from the Human Rights Commission.

•I am the first president in US history to have the United Nations remove the US from the Elections Monitoring Board.

•I removed more checks and balances, and have the least amount of congressional oversight than any presidential administration in US history.

•I rendered the entire United Nations irrelevant. I withdrew from the World Court of Law.

•I refused to allow inspectors access to US prisoners of war and by default no longer abide by the Geneva Conventions.

•I am the first president in US history to refuse United Nations election inspectors access during the 2002 US elections.

•I am the all-time US (and world) record holder for most corporate campaign donations.

•The biggest lifetime contributor to my campaign, who is also one of my best friends, presided over one of the largest corporate bankruptcy frauds in world history (Kenneth Lay, former CEO of Enron Corporation).

•I spent more money on polls and focus groups than any president in US history.

•I am the first US president to establish a secret shadow government.

•I took the world's sympathy for the US after 9/11, and in less than a year made the US the most resented country in the world (possibly the biggest diplomatic failure in US and world history).

•I am the first US president in history to have a majority of the people of Europe (71%) view my presidency as the biggest threat to world peace and stability.

•I changed US policy to allow convicted criminals to be awarded government contracts.

•I have removed more freedoms and civil liberties for Americans than any other president in US history.

RECORDS AND REFERENCES:
• I have at least one conviction for drunk driving in Maine
(Texas driving record has been erased and is not available).

•I was AWOL from the National Guard and deserted the military during time of war.

•I refuse to take a drug test or even answer any questions about drug use.

•All records of my tenure as governor of Texas have been spirited away to my fathers library, sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view.

•All records of any SEC investigations into my insider trading or bankrupt companies are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view.

•All minutes of meetings of any public corporation for which I served on the board are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view.

•Any records or minutes from meetings I (or my VP) attended regarding public energy policy are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public review.

GEORGE W. BUSH
The White House, Washington, DC