AND ONE THAT IS ENDORSED AND ENABLED BY COMPLICIT GOP LAWMAKERS
Hold on to your hats my friends. There is a lot of news tonight that will take your breath away. LS
WHO WOULD TRUST BUSH WITH OUR NATIONAL SECURITY?
NOT THE COAST GUARD.
Ken sent this riveting piece today from THINK PROGRESS.ORG
Excerpts:
But Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) today released an unclassified version of a document showing that the U.S. Coast Guard — located in the Department of Homeland Security — “cautioned the Bush administration that it was unable to determine whether a United Arab Emirates-owned company might support terrorist operations.” From the document:
There are many intelligence gaps, concerning the potential for DPW or P&O assets to support terrorist operations, that precludes an overall threat assessment of the potential merger. … The breadth of the intelligence gaps also infers potential unknown threats against a large number of potential vulnerabilities.
COAST GUARD SOUNDS ALARMS OVER DUBAI COMPANY PORT DEAL
WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE COMPANY WHO PROVIDES SECURITY FOR THE UNUSED HOME TRAILERS FOR HURRICANE VICTIMS IN MISSISSIPPI?
HINT: THEY HAVE OFFICES IN THE UK AND UAE.
Brownie did a heck of a job for Bush all right.
Why can’t we guard our own unused home trailers for hurricane victims and oversee our ports? Why are overseas firms hired to safeguard our national security? We should be doing this ourselves. I mean, it is an obvious no brainer. I am confused. Someone enlighten me please.
A friend and colleague heard a piece on CNN the other night in which Anderson Cooper and Linda Lu were denied access to the area where the house trailers for hurricane victims are presently stored in Mississippi. The reporters were not allowed entry to the area for “security reasons”. My friend noticed “Olive Group” written on a sign in the area. She did a bit of research and learned that a firm owns the company with offices in the UK and UAE. I tried to do a little research myself but the site is down for construction (or purging perhaps). My friend sent the info to CNN and I sent it to Raw Story.com. LS
THE OLIVE GROUP FROM THE UK AND THE UAE
45 DAY INVESTIGATION INTO DUBAI PORT DEAL IS BASICALLY A SHAM AND MERE FACE SAVING DEVICE FOR BUSH
Orchestrated by GOP hack Frist. LS
From the Washington Post.com via The Huffington Post. The Huffington Post
Before reading the Washington Post below, check out what the Daily Kos has to say about the port review process. DAILY KOS.COM LS
Why the 45-Day CFIUS Review Is A Sham
by georgia10
Mon Feb 27, 2006 at 02:21:26 PM PDT
In an effort to save face and calm the public furor over the ports deal, Dubai Ports World (DPW) has agreed to "request" the 45-day investigation that should have been been conducted by CFIUS initially. DPW has also said it's delaying taking control over U.S. ports. Yet, as Think Progress points out, the delay is just a sham, and barring any Congressional action, the deal will be finalized on March 2.
So, this deal will go back to the same committee that approved of it unanimously. Does anyone really believe that their conclusion will differ at all? More importantly, will the process of investigation be any better? In 2005, the non-partisan Government Accountability Office conducted a review of the Exon-Florio process and how CFIUS evaluates national security issues. (Hat tip to Kossack DC Pol Sci for the tip and pdf link.)
WASHINGTON POST PIECE ON PORTS HERE
THE NEW YORK TIMES SUES THE PENTAGON OVER DOMESTIC SPYING
I can’t believe this! The NYT appears to have rediscovered courage and integrity in reporting after Judith Miller “retired.” LS
THE NEW YORK TIMES SUES THE PENTAGON
EVEN GOP LAWMAKERS ARE FREAKED BY THE DUBAI PORT DEAL
Not to mention they are also a tad freaked by the forthcoming 2006 elections and are finally realizing Bush/Cheney may be weapons of democracy destruction. The GOP who should have seen this all along and let it happen is disgusting. We have had to endure Bush’s insane policies for 5 years before anyone in his party got a mini grip on the nightmare that has been visited upon us. The GOP is reprehensible. Fire them all. Each and every one of them, including any Democrats who played along with the corrupted and spineless GOP cowards. Just fire them. LS
From the NEW YORK TIMES via . The Huffington Post
Excerpts:
But pressures from far beyond the capital forced the spotlight onto the Dubai deal. Fueled by a backlash on conservative talk radio and taunting by liberal blogs and comedy shows, the national outcry seemed almost organic, a bipartisan chorus that grew ever louder over the span of a week, reaching a cacophony that President Bush and members of Congress, besieged by calls from constituents, could not ignore.
"People were crazy about this," said the conservative talk show host Michael Savage, who railed against the Dubai contract on his radio program, broadcast on 370 stations with an estimated 8 million to 10 million listeners. "Even the Bush supporters went nuts."
The uprising is, in one sense, a clash over economics and national security that played on Americans' fears of another terrorist attack. Many shared the sentiments of Cira Alvarez, a 74-year-old Republican in Miami, who said of Mr. Bush, "I have supported him just about everywhere else, but this is just horrible."
But the story has a political element, too, featuring administration missteps, including a bungled Sunday morning television appearance by the homeland security secretary, Michael Chertoff, political calculations by Democrats and a growing restiveness among Republicans, including the Senate majority leader, Bill Frist, who were irked at having been kept in the dark. Some of the Republicans apparently decided that standing alongside an embattled president yet again this year would do them more harm than good.
HOW THE DUBAI DEAL BECAME A LIABILITY FOR THE GOP
MOVING ON TO A RED STATE OF GOP SLEAZE
OHIO’S NOE HIRED HACKS FUNNELLED DONATIONS TO BUSH’S 2004 CAMPAIGN
Here is another humdinger sent by my friend Christopher in Dallas found on The Toledo Blade.com. LS
Excerpts:
H. Douglas Talbott told investigators last summer that he and Doug Moormann took part in Mr. Noe’s alleged scheme in October, 2003, to illegally funnel money into the President’s campaign.
As a reward for their fund-raising efforts, Mr. Noe gained the elite fund-raising status and an invitation to a White House Christmas party, and Mr. Talbott had his photo taken with the President, Mr. Talbott said.
Mr. Talbott and Mr. Moormann, also aides to former Gov. George Voinovich, were convicted on ethics violations yesterday for failing to report money they were given from Mr. Noe. Documents released by prosecutors detailing their probe into the former aides — although heavily redacted because of ongoing investigations — provided new details about Mr. Noe’s generosity toward public officials and his eagerness to curry favor with all levels of government.
Damien LaVera, a spokesman for the Democratic National Committee, said yesterday that Mr. Talbott’s statements to investigators “shows that this scandal lies right at the steps of the White House.” The President has returned $4,000 in contributions made directly from Mr. Noe and his wife, Bernadette, but he has resisted returning more than $100,000 that the coin dealer raised for Mr. Bush’s campaign.
WITNESSES SAY THEY FUNNELED DONATIONS TO THE BUSH CAMPAIGN IN 2004"
BUSH NEO-CON "DEMOCRACY" IN IRAQ LEAVES 1300 DEAD IN ONE WEEK ALONE.
Simply appalling. Horrifying. Shocking. Revolting. Devastating. Disgraceful. Shameful. Reprehensible. Of course Iraq is not in the thoes of a civil war. Why not? Because Bush says so and the GOP agrees with him. LS
From the Washington Post.com
1300 KILLED IN IRAQ IN ONE WEEK ALONE
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