February 2008 News History Archives

February 2008 News:
2008 Election

_2008 News News Reference February 2008 News
February 29, 2008 News URL: #February-29-2008-News
20080229 Friday

- US - Religious - Newspaper
"US president's brother visits Paraguay president as guest of Moon-backed group." ... "[Republican] Neil Bush, younger brother of U.S. [Republican] President George W. Bush, called on Paraguay's president as the guest of a business federation allied with the Rev. [Reverend ] Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church." ... "A presidential press office source, who spoke on condition of not being named, confirmed the younger Bush met President Nicanor Duarte on Thursday along with a delegation from the Universal Peace Federation, a group associated with Moon." ... "Groups allied with Moon publish a newspaper, operate businesses and have large land holdings in Paraguay, South America's second-poorest country." -AP via -IHT.com

- British - Afghanistan - US - Military - Safety - Secrecy - Politics
"Prince's cover in Afghanistan blown by Drudge Report." ... "An American website, the Drudge Report, broke a news blackout yesterday by revealing that Prince Harry has been serving in Afghanistan for more than two months." ... "To the fury of the Ministry of Defence and condemnation from the head of the British Army, General Sir Richard Dannatt, the website announced a "world exclusive" and proclaimed: "They're calling him 'Harry the Hero!"." ... "The article brought to an end an agreement with the media that the Prince's deployment to Helmand be kept quiet in the interests of his safety and that of the soldiers with him." ... "The decision to send Prince Harry, 23, to Afghanistan under a cloak of secrecy came after the furore that followed the revelation of his proposed deployment to Iraq. Much to the Prince's frustration, General Dannatt announced in May last year that it would be too risky, fearing the Prince and his comrades in the Household Cavalry would become top priority targets for insurgents." ... "Immediately, officers decided the only way the third-in-line to the throne could continue to do his duty without creating an additional security risk was to send him secretly, calling on the media to co-operate in a news blackout." -By Terri Judd -Independent.co.uk

- Barack Obama - Tim Russert - John McCain - John Hagee - Religious - Homosexual - Woman - Racist - Book - History - Media - Politics -  - 2008 Election - Illinois - Arizona - Arkansas - Texas - US - Israel - Germany
"Will MSNBC devote as much coverage to McCain's embrace of Hagee's support as it did to Obama's rejection of Farrakhan?" ... "Summary: On February 27, MSNBC devoted significant coverage to an exchange from the most recent Democratic presidential debate in which NBC Washington bureau chief Tim Russert repeatedly questioned [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois Senator] Sen. Barack Obama about praise he received from controversial minister Louis Farrakhan, whose statements Obama has denounced. The same day, Pastor John Hagee -- who has made controversial comments about homosexuality, Islam, Catholicism, and women -- endorsed [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain, who embraced Hagee's support. Hagee's endorsement and McCain's response to it raise the question of whether MSNBC will report on them as extensively as it did on Farrakhan's praise." ... "A March 7, 1996, article (accessed via the Nexis database) in the San Antonio Express-News reported that Hagee was going to "meet with black religious leaders privately at an unspecified future date to discuss comments he made in his newsletter about a 'slave sale,' an East Side minister said Wednesday." The Express-News reported:"

"Hagee, pastor of the 16,000-member Cornerstone Church [in Texas], last week had announced a "slave sale" to raise funds for high school seniors in his church bulletin, "The Cluster."" ... "The item was introduced with the sentence "Slavery in America is returning to Cornerstone" and ended with "Make plans to come and go home with a slave.""

"To help students seeking odd jobs, his church newsletter, The Cluster, advertised a "slave" sale. "Slavery in America is returning to Cornerstone," it said. "Make plans to come and go home with a slave." Mr. Hagee apologized but, in a radio interview, protested about pressure to be "politically correct" and joked that perhaps his pet dog should be called a "canine American.""

"In his recent book "Jerusalem Countdown," Hagee wrote: "Most readers will be shocked by the clear record of history linking Adolf Hitler and the Roman Catholic Church in a conspiracy to exterminate the Jews.""

- US - Iraq - Military - Intelligence - Torture - Prison - Psychology - Book - Political - History
"How Good People Turn Evil, From Stanford to Abu Ghraib." ... "[Psychologist Philip] Zimbardo conducted a now-famous experiment at Stanford University in 1971, involving students who posed as prisoners and guards. Five days into the experiment, Zimbardo halted the study when the student guards began abusing the prisoners, forcing them to strip naked and simulate sex acts." ... "His book, The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil, explores how a "perfect storm" of conditions can make ordinary people commit horrendous acts." ... "Wired: You were an expert defense witness in the court-martial of Sgt. Chip Frederick, an Abu Ghraib guard. What were the situational influences in his case?" ... "Zimbardo: Abu Ghraib was under bombardment all the time. In the prison, five soldiers and 20 Iraqi prisoners get killed. That means automatically any soldier working there is under high fear and high stress. Then the insurgency starts in 2003, and they start arresting everyone in sight. When Chip Frederick [starts working at Abu Ghraib] in September, there are 200 prisoners there. Within three months there's a thousand prisoners with a handful of guards to take care of them, so they're overwhelmed. Frederick and the others worked 12-hour shifts. How many days a week? Seven. How many days without a day off? Forty. That kind of stress reduces decision-making and critical thinking and rationality. But that's only the beginning." ... "He [complained] to higher-ups on the record, "We have mentally ill patients who cover themselves with [excrement]. We have people with tuberculosis that shouldn't be in this population. We have kids mixed with adults."" ... "And they tell him, "It's a war zone. Do your job. Do whatever you have to do."" ... "Wired: How did what happened at Abu Ghraib compare to your Stanford prison study?" ... "Zimbardo: The military intelligence, the CIA and the civilian interrogator corporation, Titan, told the MPs [at Abu Ghraib], "It is your job to soften the prisoners up. We give you permission to do something you ordinarily are not allowed to do as a military policeman -- to break the prisoners, to soften them up, to prepare them for interrogation." That's permission to step across the line from what is typically restricted behavior to now unrestricted behavior." ... "In the same way in the Stanford prison study, I was saying [to the student guards], "You have to be powerful to prevent further rebellion." I tell them, "You're not allowed, however, to use physical force." By default, I allow them to use psychological force. In five days, five prisoners are having emotional breakdowns." ... "The situational forces that were going on in [Abu Ghraib] -- the dehumanization, the lack of personal accountability, the lack of surveillance, the permission to get away with anti-social actions -- it was like the Stanford prison study, but in spades." ... "Those sets of things are found any time you really see an evil situation occurring, whether it's Rwanda or Nazi Germany or the Khmer Rouge. " (1, 2) -By Kim Zetter -Wired

- Barack Obama - Tim Russert - John McCain - John C Hagee - Religious - Racist - Political - Journalist - 2008 Election - Hurricane Katrina - Homosexual - New Orleans - Louisiana - Texas
"Some hateful, radical ministers -- white evangelicals -- are acceptable." ... "One of this week's hysterical press scandals was that Minister Louis Farrakhan praised [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama's candidacy even though Obama had previously denounced numerous Farrakhan remarks and the Obama campaign did nothing to seek out the Farrakhan praise. Nonetheless, [MSNBC TV political journalist] Tim Russert demanded that Obama jump through multiple hoops to prove that he has no connection to -- and, in fact, "rejects" -- the ideas espoused by Farrakhan deemed to be radical and hateful." ... "Yesterday, though, the equally fringe, radical and hateful (at least) [Reverend] Rev. John Hagee -- a white evangelical who is the pastor of a sprawling "mega-church" in Texas -- enthusiastically endorsed [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate]] John McCain. Did McCain have to jump through the same hoops which Russert and others set up for Obama and "denounce" Hagee's extremism and "reject" his support? No; quite the opposite. McCain said he was "very honored" to receive this endorsement and, when asked about some of Hagee's more twisted views, responded: "all I can tell you is that I am very proud to have Pastor John Hagee's support."" ... "McCain's sainted supporter, [Connecticut Independent Democrat Senator] Joe Lieberman, last year spoke to Hagee's group and lavished him with such obsequious praise that Lieberman actually compared Hagee, favorably, to Moses. Why is Louis Farrakhan deemed by our political establishment to be so radioactive as to not be fit for good company -- black candidates are required to repudiate his support even when they haven't sought it and denounce his views even when they've never advocated anything close to those views -- but John Hagee is a perfectly acceptable figure whom mainstream GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] politicians are free to court without any consequences or media objections?" ... "From an NPR interview Hagee gave to Terry Gross in 2006:"

"TG [Terry Gross]: If you use the Bible as the basis for policy, is there any room for compromise? And if you use the bible as the basis for policy, should Muslims use the Koran as the basis for their policy, and then again, what possible basis is there for compromise at that point?" ... "JH [John Hagee]: There is really no room for compromise between radical Islam --" ... "TG [Terry Gross]: I'm not talking about radical Islam. I'm just talking about Islam in general." ... "JH [John Hagee]: Well Islam in general -- those who live by the Koran have a scriptural mandate to kill Christians and Jews."
...
"JH [John Hagee]: All hurricanes are acts of God, because God controls the heavens. I believe that New Orleans [Louisiana] had a level of sin that was offensive to God, and they were recipients of the judgment of God for that." ... "The newspaper carried the story in our local area, that was not carried nationally, that there was to be a homosexual parade there on the Monday that the Katrina came. And the promise of that parade was that it would was going to reach a level of sexuality never demonstrated before in any of the other gay pride parades." ... "So I believe that the judgment of God is a very real thing. I know there are people who demur from that, but I believe that the Bible teaches that when you violate the law of God, that God brings punishment sometimes before the Day of Judgment, and I believe that the Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans."

- Barack Obama - Tim Russert - Hillary Clinton - John McCain - John C Hagee - Religious - Politician - Journalist - Texas - 2008 Election
"Farrakhan's Support For Obama? Hugely Controversial. Hagee's Backing Of McCain? No Problem." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama was questioned at Tuesday night's debate by [MSNBC TV political journalist] Tim Russert and [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Hillary Clinton about repudiating Louis Farrakhan's endorsement — which Obama said was unsolicited — in the strongest terms possible. He was repeatedly badgered by Russert, and was forced to disown Farrakhan over and over again." ... "The very next day, [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain appeared onstage in Texas with Pastor John Hagee, an influential activist in the Christian Zionist movement. Hagee's comments about world affairs can make Farrakhan seem pedestrian at times: He eagerly awaits the Armageddon, considers the Catholic Church to be the Anti-Christ, and has said that Jews brought their own persecution upon themselves." ... "[WATCHMax Blumenthal's report at John Hagee's conference Christians United For Israel.]" ... "On the right, Bill Donohue of the Catholic League is objecting Hagee's extremist writings, particularly his denunciations of the Catholic Church. For example, Donohue pointed to instances in which Hagee has referred to the Catholic Church as, "The Great Whore," an "apostate church," the "anti-Christ," and a "false cult system."" ... "So here's the question: Will the same media outlets who have hammered Barack Obama about Louis Farrakhan's uninvited endorsement now ask John McCain to denounce and reject the support of John Hagee, which was actually sought and publicly accepted?" -By Eric Kleefeld -TalkingPointsMemo.com

- John McCain - John C Hagee - Politician - Arizona - Texas - 2008 Election
"McCain Endorsement Angers Catholic League President." ... "The president of the Catholic League today blasted [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain for accepting the endorsement of Texas evangelicalist John Hagee, calling the controversial pastor a bigot who has "waged an unrelenting war against the Catholic Church."" ... "Catholics United, a national online group, also blasted McCain over the endorsement. "By receiving the endorsement of an outspoken critic of the Catholic Church, McCain once again demonstrates that he is willing to sell out his principles for a chance to win the Presidency," said Chris Korzen, Executive Director of Catholics United in a statement." -By Michael D. Shear -WashingtonPost

- Corporate - Government - Telecom - Amnesty - Politics - Surveillance - Intelligence - Data - US - Foreign
"If we punish lawbreaking, they might not break the law again." ... "[Republican President] GEORGE BUSH held a press conference this morning to discuss a variety of issues, but above all to hammer House Democrats for failing to hold a vote on reforms to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act already approved in the Senate, including retroactive civil immunity for telecoms that participated in the National Security Agency's extrajudicial eavesdropping programme. And again, the president articulated an argument that has never made any sense to me, for all that it has been repeated:"

[Bush:] "You can't expect the phone companies to participate if they feel that they are going to be sued... How can you listen to the enemy if the phone compnaies aren't going to particiapte with you?"

- Prison - History - Race - Women - People - Money - Politics
"1 in 100 U.S. Adults Behind Bars, New Study Says." ... "For the first time in the nation’s history, more than one in 100 American adults is behind bars, according to a new report." ... "Nationwide, the prison population grew by 25,000 last year, bringing it to almost 1.6 million. Another 723,000 people are in local jails. The number of American adults is about 230 million, meaning that one in every 99.1 adults is behind bars." ... "Incarceration rates are even higher for some groups. One in 36 Hispanic adults is behind bars, based on Justice Department figures for 2006. One in 15 black adults is, too, as is one in nine black men between the ages of 20 and 34." ... "The report, from the Pew Center on the States, also found that only one in 355 white women between the ages of 35 and 39 are behind bars but that one in 100 black women are." ... "With money from bonds and the federal government included, total state spending on corrections last year was $49 billion." -By Adam Liptak -NYTimes

_2008 News News Reference February 2008 News
February 27, 2008 News URL: #February-27-2008-News
20080227 Wednesday

- Karl Rove - Political - Government - Computer - E-Mails - Communications - Archives - Laws - Presidential Records Act Law - Hatch Act Law - History - Data - Censorship - Investigation
"GOP Halts Effort to Retrieve White House E-Mails." ... "After promising last year to search its computers for tens of thousands of e-mails sent by [Republican President Bush] White House officials, the Republican National Committee has informed a House committee that it no longer plans to retrieve the communications by restoring computer backup tapes, the panel's chairman said yesterday." ... "The move increases the likelihood that an untold number of RNC [RNC=Republican National Committee=Republican Party] e-mails dealing with official White House business during the first term of the Bush administration -- including many sent or received by former [Republican President Bush] presidential adviser Karl Rove -- will never be recovered, said House Democrats and public records advocates." ... "Administration officials have acknowledged that Rove and many other White House officials routinely used RNC accounts for government business, despite rules [Laws: the Presidential Records Act Law and the Hatch Act Law] requiring that they conduct such business through official communications channels. The RNC deleted all e-mails until 2004, when it exempted White House officials from its e-mail purging policy." ... "About 80 White House aides used RNC accounts for official government business, committee staff members said. Rove, for example, sent or received 140,000 e-mails on RNC servers from 2002 to 2007, and more than half involved official ".gov" accounts, the panel has said." ... "The RNC dispute is part of a broader debate over whether the Bush administration has complied with long-standing statutory requirements to preserve official White House records -- including those reflecting potentially sensitive policy discussions -- for history and in case of future legal demands." ... "The committee is investigating allegations that vast stores of official Bush administration e-mails have also gone missing from the White House, which scrapped a [former Democratic President] Clinton-era archiving system and has struggled with data retention problems." -By Dan Eggen -WashingtonPost

- John McCain - Money - Politics - Law - 2008 Election
"Ah, Reform." ... "As a refresher, here's what [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain thinks should be allowable. Candidate enters the race. Candidate experiences fundraising difficulties. Candidate signs up to receive primary campaign public funds, knowing full well that this will commit him to abide by spending limits during the pre-convention period. Candidate uses promise of public funding to help secure a loan for his campaign. Candidate uses loaned funds to help wrap up the nomination well before the convention. Having become his party's nominee, the candidate's fundraising woes are gone. Candidate notes that he hasn't yet spent any public funds (merely used the promise that they would be forthcoming to secure a loan and spent the loaned funds) so asserts that he can decline to accept them, decline to abide by spending limits, and repay the loan and finance the rest of the campaign with the now-forthcoming special interest cash." -By Matthew Yglesias -TheAtlantic.com

- Barack Obama - John McCain - US -Iraq - Military - Osama bin Laden - Terrorism - 2008 Election - Ohio
"Obama also has news for McCain." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack] Obama departed from his regular stump speech today in Columbus [Ohio's capital] to respond to [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain." ... ""John McCain may like to say he wants to follow Osama bin Laden to the gates of Hell, but so far all he’s done is follow George Bush into a misguided war in Iraq," he said." ... ""McCain thought that he could make a clever point by saying, 'Well let me give you some news, Barack, Al Qaeda is in Iraq,' like I wasn’t reading the papers, like [I] didn’t know what was going on." Obama said, leaning into his developing McCain impression." ... "He then described the context -- a hypothetical question from Tim Russert -- and said, "First of all, I do know Al Qaeda is in Iraq, and that’s why I said we should continue to strike Al Qaeda targets."" ... ""I have some news for John McCain," Obama continued, "That’s there was no Al Qaeda in Iraq until George Bush and John McCain" began the Iraq war, he said." ... ""They took their eye off the people who really were responsible for 9/11," he said." -By Ben Smith -Politico.com

- US - EU - Swiss - UK - New York - Oil
"Dollar slides to new lows after Fed warning." ... "There were records for the euro, which climbed as high as $1.5143 by midday in New York, and the Swiss franc, which hit SFr1.0624. Sterling, which had earlier fallen against the dollar due to weak UK [United Kingdom] growth data, Came back up to $1.9921." ... "The dollar index, a measure of the US [United States] unit’s strength against a basket of currencies, fell to a record low of 74.181. " ... "Oil prices also hit records. Nymex West Texas intermediate soared to $102.08, before edging back to $101.25. Brent crude rose to $100.53 as investors hedged against the weaker dollar." ... "Gold, which is often used as a hedge against inflation when oil prices rise, hit a fresh peak of $964.70 a troy ounce, and helped lift other precious metals. Silver rose to $19.43 its highest level since November 1980." -By Neil Dennis and Krishna Guha -FT.com

- US - Iraq - Afghanistan
"Post-drawdown troop levels will still be high." ... "When the current drawdown of U.S. troops in Iraq is complete in July, about 140,000 should remain, a senior U.S. [United States] military official said Monday — 8,000 more than were present at the January 2007 start of the administration’s “surge” of five brigade combat teams aimed at helping stabilize Iraq." ... "Those 8,000 troops represent a sort of safety margin for U.S. ground commanders as they assess the U.S. ability to handle security demands across Iraq, such as backing up U.S. Provincial Reconstruction Teams and Iraqi forces, with five fewer combat units on hand, said [Lieutenant General] Lt. Gen. Carter Ham, the Joint Staff’s director for operations." ... "U.S. officials also project that about 32,000 U.S. troops will be stationed in Afghanistan “by late summer,” Ham said. That would be the highest level ever — an increase of about 4,000 troops over the current level. Most of these will come from the 3,200 additional Marines being deployed there this spring, he said." ... "Both figures, however, are estimates that will depend on security conditions on the ground, Ham said." -By William H. McMichael -AirForceTimes.com

- US - Iraq - Military - MRAP - Vehicles - Investigation - Government - Politics
"Marines halt study critical of MRAP program." ... "The Marine Corps has ordered a civilian scientist to stop work on a report critical of its efforts to obtain new armored vehicles, saying he exceeded his authority, a Marine official said Tuesday." ... "Franz Gayl, a retired Marine officer and civilian science adviser, alleged in a Jan. 22 report that "gross mismanagement" of the program to quickly field Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles had resulted in the unnecessary deaths of hundreds of Marines in Iraq. Gayl had planned to continue his investigation." ... "Gayl's report was first made public by the Associated Press on Feb. 15. The report said Marine procurement officers spurned requests from commanders in Iraq for blast-resistant vehicles because they didn't want to derail other projects." ... "PROBE: Pentagon urged to investigate MRAP report." ... "MRAP REPORT: Lack of vehicles cost Marine lives." ... "FULL COVERAGE: Troops at Risk: IEDs in Iraq." -By Tom Vanden Brook -USATODAY

- Stephen Johnson - Environmental - Politics - California - Transportation - Auto - Makers -Emissions - Law - Health - Science - Clean Air Act - Enforcement
"Documents: EPA chief warned not to deny California on emission standard." ... "A Environmental Protection Agency official warned her boss, [Republican President Bush's] EPA chief Stephen Johnson, that if he denied California's bid to enforce its own tailpipe emissions rules, the agency's credibility "will be irreparably damaged" and Johnson would have to think about resigning." ... "Margot Oge, the head of EPA's office of transportation and air quality, also told Administrator Johnson in an Oct. 17 memo that "there is no legal or technical justification for denying this," despite "alternative interpretations that have been suggested by the automakers."" ... "These internal warnings were included in EPA documents released Tuesday by [California Democratic Senator] Sen. Barbara Boxer, the California Democrat who chairs the Environment Committee and had requested the records." ... "Johnson turned down California's request for a waiver from the Clean Air Act on [2007 December] Dec. 19, after months of review. He overruled the recommendations of senior staff members, according to several media reports, and the documents released Tuesday provide some examples." ... ""The documents show the dedicated, professional staff working hard to protect our health and our environment," Boxer said. "We see more and more evidence of Administrator Johnson ignoring the science and the facts, and discarding the advice of his staff."" -By Frank Davies -MercuryNews.com

- China - Sports - Industry - People - Environment - Politics
"Olympics water diversion threatens millions." ... "The diversion of water to Beijing [China] for the Olympics and for big hydropower projects threatens the lives of millions of peasant farmers in China’s north-western provinces, according to a senior Chinese government official." ... "In an interview with the Financial Times, An Qiyuan, a member and former chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Committee for Shaanxi province and former Communist party chief of Shaanxi, warned of an impending social and environmental disaster because of overuse of scarce water resources." ... "Beijing will need an estimated 300m cubic metres of additional water just to flush out the polluted and stagnant rivers, canals and lakes in its central areas to put on a clean, environmentally-friendly face for Olympic visitors, according to municipal officials." -By Jamil Anderlini -FT.com

- John McCain - Jack Abramoff - Bob Riley - Tom DeLay - Bob Ney - Money - Politics - Investigation - Law - EMail - Alabama - Louisiana - Mississippi - Arizona - Texas - Ohio - History - 2002 Election - 2006 Election - 2008 Election
"McCain Withheld Controversial Abramoff Email." ... "In the 2006 Senate report concerning [Republican Lobbyist Jack] Abramoff's activities, which [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain spearheaded, the Arizona Republican conspicuously left out information detailing how Alabama [Republican Governor] Gov. Bob Riley was targeted by Abramoff's influence peddling scheme. Riley, a Republican, won election in November 2002, and was reelected in 2006." ... "In a December 2002 email [PDF] obtained by the Huffington Post -- which McCain and his staff had access to prior to the issuance of his report -- Abramoff explains to an aide what he would like to see Riley do in return for the "help" he received from Abramoff's tribal clients." ... "An official with the Mississippi Choctaws "definitely wants Riley to shut down the Poarch Creek operation," Abramoff wrote, "including his announcing that anyone caught gambling there can't qualify for a state contract or something like that."" ... "The note showed not only the reach of Abramoff, but raised questions about Riley's victory in what was the closest gubernatorial election in Alabama history." ... "And yet, despite the implications of the information, McCain and the Senate Indian Affairs Committee sat on the controversial portion of the email. According to an official familiar with the investigation, McCain also subsequently refused to make the email public after the report was released." ... "There was a brief footnote in the report that quoted William Worfel, former vice chairman of the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana, saying that Abramoff told the chief of a Mississippi tribe to spend $13 million "to get the governor of Alabama elected to keep gaming out of Alabama so it wouldn't hurt ... his market in Mississippi."" ... "But Riley's name and the details of what was being asked of him were not mentioned once in the 373-page document." ... "Indeed, as the Associated Press noted in 2006, McCain stayed deliberately agnostic as to Riley's involvement." ... ""Although Sen. McCain has long bragged of his role in the Abramoff investigation, he let [former Texas Republican Representative] Tom DeLay and the other members of Congress who were doing Abramoff's bidding completely off the hook. The sole exception was [former Ohio Republican Representative] Rep. Bob Ney, who served time in prison," Melanie Sloan, Executive Director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics In Washington told the Huffington Post recently. "Sen. McCain knew what his colleagues were up to, he chose to take the easier path and give them a free pass."" -By Sam Stein -HuffingtonPost.com

- Rick Renzi - John McCain - Money - Legislation - Arizona - Real Estate - 2008 Election
"Renzi Says He Won’t Resign." ... "Representative Rick Renzi, the Arizona Republican who was indicted last week by a federal grand jury on 35 corruption charges, issued a statement on Monday saying that he would not resign despite signals from Republican leaders in Congress that they would welcome his swift departure." ... "Mr. Renzi had been serving as a Arizona state co-chairman of [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona] Senator John McCain’s campaign for president." ... "A grand jury last week indicted Mr. Renzi on a raft of corruption charges, including fraud, money laundering and extortion. Prosecutors charged that Mr. Renzi pressured constituents to purchase land from his business partner in exchange for his support for legislation that the constituents needed. At least $733,000 in proceeds from the land sale were funneled back to Mr. Renzi, according to the indictment." ... "Prosecutors also said that Mr. Renzi and a partner in an insurance firm that he owned swindled clients, many of them non-profit organizations, by selling them policies and then stealing the premiums." -By David M. Herszenhorn -NYTimes

- Don Siegelman - Karl Rove - Criminal - US Attorneys - Law - Politics - Secret - Spying - Intelligence - 2002 Election - 2006 Election - Prison
"Did Ex-Alabama Governor [Don Siegelman] Get A Raw Deal? 60 Minutes Reports On Bribery Conviction Of [former Alabama Democratic Governor] Don Siegelman In A Case Criticized by Democrats And Republicans." [WATCH: "The Prosecution of Siegelman." via 60 Minutes] ... "Is Don Siegelman in prison because he’s a criminal or because he belonged to the wrong political party in Alabama? Siegelman is the former governor of Alabama, and he was the most successful Democrat in that Republican state. But while he was governor, the U.S. Justice Department launched multiple investigations that went on year after year until, finally, a jury convicted Siegelman of bribery." ... "Now, many Democrats and Republicans have become suspicious of the Justice Department’s motivations. As correspondent Scott Pelley reports, 52 former state attorneys-general have asked Congress to investigate whether the prosecution of Siegelman was pursued not because of a crime but because of politics." ... "“I haven't seen a case with this many red flags on it that pointed towards a real injustice being done,” says Grant Woods, the former Republican attorney general of Arizona." ... "“I personally believe that what happened here is that they targeted Don Siegelman because they could not beat him fair and square. This was a Republican state and he was the one Democrat they could never get rid of,” Woods says." ...

[DON SIEGELMAN, former Alabama Governor]

TV: [WATCH: "The Prosecution of Siegelman." via 60 Minutes]

- John McCain - Corporate - Politician - Government - Television - Media - Communications - Law - Pennsylvania - Arizona - Florida - Jet - Vicki Iseman - History - 2008 Election
"McCain Disputed On 1999 Meeting: Broadcaster Recalls Urging FCC [Federal Communications Commission] Contact." ... "Broadcaster Lowell "Bud" Paxson yesterday contradicted statements from [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign that the senator did not meet with Paxson or his lobbyist before sending two controversial letters to the Federal Communications Commission on Paxson's behalf." ... "Paxson said he talked with McCain in his Washington office several weeks before the Arizona Republican wrote the letters in 1999 to the FCC urging a rapid decision on Paxson's quest to acquire a Pittsburgh [Pennsylvania] television station." ... "Paxson also recalled that his lobbyist, Vicki Iseman, likely attended the meeting in McCain's office and that Iseman helped arrange the meeting. "Was Vicki there? Probably," Paxson said in an interview with The Washington Post yesterday. "The woman was a professional. She was good. She could get us meetings."" ... "The recollection of the now-retired Paxson conflicted with the account provided by the McCain campaign about the two letters at the center of a controversy about the senator's ties to Iseman, a partner at the lobbying firm of Alcalde & Fay." ... "The McCain campaign said Thursday that the senator had not met with Paxson or Iseman on the matter. "No representative of Paxson or Alcalde and Fay personally asked Senator McCain to send a letter to the FCC regarding this proceeding," the campaign said in a statement." ... "But Paxson said yesterday, "I remember going there to meet with him." He recalled that he told McCain: "You're head of the Commerce Committee. The FCC is not doing its job. I would love for you to write a letter."" ... "The two letters he wrote to the FCC in 1999 while he was chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee produced a rash of criticism and a written rebuke from the then-FCC chairman, who called McCain's intervention "highly unusual."" ... "On [1999 Novemeber] Nov. 17, McCain sent a letter to FCC Chairman William E. Kennard saying, "I write today to express my concern about the Commission's continuing failure to act" on the three-station deal involving Paxson." ... "McCain had flown on Paxson's corporate jet four times to appear at [2000 Election] campaign events and had received $28,000 in campaign donations from Paxson and its law firm." ... "The second letter came on Dec. 10, a day after the company's jet ferried McCain to a Florida fundraiser aboard a yacht in West Palm Beach, Fla. [Florida.] The fundraiser was arranged by Hector Alcalde of Alcalde & Fay and was hosted by a cruise line that Alcalde had represented, Paxson said. Paxson said he attended the fundraiser." (1, 2, 3) -By James V. Grimaldi and Jeffrey H. Birnbaum with contributions by Alice Crites -WashingtonPost

- Rick Renzi - John McCain - Politics - Arizona - Indiana - 2008 Election
"Renzi to step down from McCain camp." ... "On his weekly blogger conference call, [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain said that [Arizona Republican Representative] Rep. Rick Renzi (R [Republican]) would probably step down as co-chair of his Arizona campaign. McCain was unaware of the Arizona congressman's indictment until asked about it this morning after a town hall in Indianapolis [Indiana], at which point he said that you always think about the family in these circumstances and he would look into Renzi's role in his campaign." -By Mark Murray with contributions by Adam Aigner-Treworgy and Kelly O'Donnell -MSNBC

- Noteworthy - Political - Military - Government - 2008 Election - Barack Obama - US - Afghanistan - Iraq
"Bush Pentagon." ... "It would appear that we have another case where the [Republican President] Bush Pentagon, particularly the Office of Public Affairs is forcefully inserting itself into the civilian election process. Earlier today I referenced [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama's anecdote from Thursday night's Democratic debate about an Army Captain in Afghanistan who said his unit had had to get from captured Taliban ammunition they weren't able to get quickly enough through standard Army supply channels. ABCNews' Jake Tapper talked to the soldier in question, who confirmed the story he'd told Obama. Now NBC News also appears to have confirmed the story by talking to the Army Captain in question." ... "But Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman is telling reporters he doesn't think it's true and that of course they can't confirm it unless the soldier -- still on active duty -- comes forward to discuss the issue with the Pentagon brass, a step that would surely do wonders for his future in the Army." ... "I don't know how far this is going to go. Phillip Carter, the military affairs writer who's in the reserves and did a tour in Iraq, says that from his own experience in Iraq and discussions with Afghanistan vets who report doing the same thing as the anonymous captain, he finds the story "eminently believable." But this is becoming a pattern in which political appointees at the Bush Pentagon volubly insert themselves into domestic political debate or even election campaigns." -By Josh Marshall -TalkingPointsMemo.com

- John McCain - Corporate - Politics - Television - Media - Communications - Jet - Vicki Iseman - Arizona - Pennsylvania - Florida - 2008 Election
"A Hole in McCain’s Defense? An apparent contradiction in his response to lobbyist story." ... "A sworn deposition that [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain gave in a lawsuit more than five years ago appears to contradict one part of a sweeping denial that his campaign issued this week to rebut a New York Times story about his ties to a Washington lobbyist." ... "On Wednesday night the Times published a story suggesting that McCain might have done legislative favors for the clients of the lobbyist, Vicki Iseman, who worked for the firm of Alcalde & Fay. One example it cited were two letters McCain wrote in late 1999 demanding that the Federal Communications Commission act on a long-stalled bid by one of Iseman's clients, Florida-based Paxson Communications, to purchase a Pittsburgh [Pennsylvania] television station." ... "Just hours after the Times's story was posted, the McCain campaign issued a point-by-point response that depicted the letters as routine correspondence handled by his staff—and insisted that McCain had never even spoken with anybody from Paxson or Alcalde & Fay about the matter. "No representative of Paxson or Alcalde & Fay personally asked Senator McCain to send a letter to the FCC [Federal Communications Commission]," the campaign said in a statement e-mailed to reporters." ... "But that flat claim seems to be contradicted by an impeccable source: McCain himself. "I was contacted by Mr. Paxson on this issue," McCain said in the Sept. 25, 2002, deposition obtained by NEWSWEEK. "He wanted their approval very bad for purposes of his business. I believe that Mr. Paxson had a legitimate complaint."" ... "While McCain said "I don't recall" if he ever directly spoke to the firm's lobbyist about the issue [during the 2002 deposition]—an apparent reference to Iseman, though she is not named—"I'm sure I spoke to [Paxson]." McCain agreed that his letters on behalf of Paxson, a campaign contributor, could "possibly be an appearance of corruption"—even though McCain denied doing anything improper." ... "McCain's subsequent letters to the FCC—coming around the same time that Paxson's firm was flying the senator to campaign events aboard its corporate jet and contributing $20,000 to his campaign—first surfaced as an issue during his unsuccessful 2000 presidential bid. William Kennard, the FCC chair at the time, described the sharply worded letters from McCain, then chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, as "highly unusual."" (1, 2) -By Michael Isikoff -Newsweek

- Rick Renzi - John McCain - Money - Politics - Real Estate - Federal - Land - Phoenix - Arizona - 2008 Election
"Rep. Renzi indicted on fraud, finance charges." ... "Republican [Representative] Rep. Richard Renzi of Arizona was indicted on 35 criminal counts, including conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering and official extortion stemming from land deals in his state, Justice Department officials said on Friday." ... "The indictment stemmed from plans by Renzi and an associate, a real estate investor, to benefit from a land-exchange deal in Arizona in return for Renzi's support for necessary federal legislation, court documents said." ... ""It was an object of the conspiracy for Renzi to enrich (his associate) and personally benefit himself," according to the 26-page indictment handed up by a federal grand jury in Phoenix [Arizona] that the Justice Department released in Washington." ... "It also accused Renzi, a three-term congressman who was a state co-chair for [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign, of embezzling premiums from clients of an insurance business to fund his congressional campaign." (1, 2) -By Randall Mikkelsen, James Vicini, Rick Cowan and Thomas Ferraro, with contributions by Eric Walsh -Reuters

- John McCain - Money - Politics - Federal - Enforcement - 2008 Election - Maryland
"FEC Warns McCain on Campaign Spending." ... "[Republican Federal Election Commission Chairman David] Mason notified [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain that the commission had not granted his Feb. [February] 6 request to withdraw from the presidential public financing system." ... "By signing up for matching money, McCain agreed to adhere to strict state-by-state spending limits and an overall limit on spending of $54 million for the primary season, which lasts until the party's nominating convention in September. The general election has a separate public financing arrangement." ... "But after McCain won a series of early contests and the campaign found its financial footing, his lawyer wrote to the FEC [Federal Election Commission] requesting to back out of the program -- which is permitted for candidates who have not yet received any federal money and who have not used the promise of federal funding as collateral for borrowing money." ... "Mason's letter raises two issues as the basis for his position. One is that the six-member commission lacks a quorum, with four vacancies because of a Senate deadlock over [Republican] President Bush's nominees for the seats. Mason said the FEC would need to vote on McCain's request to leave the system, which is not possible without a quorum. Until that can happen, the candidate will have to remain within the system, he said." ... "The second issue is more complicated. It involves a $1 million loan McCain obtained from a Bethesda [Maryland] bank in January. The bank was worried about his ability to repay the loan if he exited the federal financing program and started to lose in the primary race. McCain promised the bank that, if that happened, he would reapply for matching money and offer those as collateral for the loan. While McCain's aides have argued that the campaign was careful to make sure that they technically complied with the rules, Mason indicated that the question needs further FEC review." ... "If the FEC refuses McCain's request to leave the system, his campaign could be bound by a potentially debilitating spending limit until he formally accepts his party's nomination. His campaign has already spent $49 million, federal reports show. Knowingly violating the spending limit is a criminal offense that could put McCain at risk of stiff fines and up to five years in prison." (1, 2) -By Matthew Mosk and Glenn Kessler with contributions by Michael D. Shear -WashingtonPost

- Rick Renzi - Money - Politics - Real Estate - US Attorneys - Investigation - Phoenix - Arizona - Federal - Land
"Rick Renzi, Republican Congressman, Indicted by U.S. (Update3)." ... "Representative Rick Renzi, a Republican from Arizona who isn't seeking re-election, has been indicted by a federal grand jury in an alleged scheme to profit from a land deal." ... "Renzi, 49, who was first elected to the House in 2002, was charged along with James Sandlin, 56, a real estate investor and one of his political backers, and Andrew Beardall, 36, an attorney who had been general counsel of Renzi's family insurance business. Renzi and Beardall are accused of embezzling money from insurance clients to fund the lawmaker's congressional campaign." ... "``Congressman Renzi misused his public office by forcing a land sale that would financially benefit himself and a business associate, and in so doing, he betrayed the trust of the citizens of Arizona,'' said U.S. Attorney Diane Humetewa of Phoenix [Arizona] in a statement." ... "The U.S. alleged that Renzi offered to sponsor legislation to help a company seeking to swap land with the federal government if it purchased property owned by Sandlin. Renzi, who sat on a committee that approved such deals, told the company in early 2005 that he wouldn't support the request if it didn't buy the land, according to the indictment. No deal was made." ... "Later, Renzi pressured a separate investment group, also looking for approval of a land exchange, to purchase the property, prosecutors said. That group agreed to buy 480 acres from Sandlin for $4.6 million in April 2005, the government said." ... "The Renzi investigation was highlighted during a congressional inquiry last year into the [Republican President] Bush administration's firings of nine U.S. attorneys. One of the dismissed prosecutors, Paul Charlton, had been in charge of the probe." -By Robert Schmidt -Bloomberg

- John McCain - Corporate - Politician - Lawmaker -  -  -  -  -  -  - 2008 Election - Ariz
"The Anti-Lobbyist, Advised by Lobbyists." ... "For years, [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.[Republican-Arizona]) has railed against lobbyists and the influence of "special interests" in Washington, touting on his campaign Web site his fight against "the 'revolving door' by which lawmakers and other influential officials leave their posts and become lobbyists for the special interests they have aided."" ... "But when McCain huddled with his closest advisers at his rustic Arizona cabin last weekend to map out his presidential campaign, virtually every one was part of the Washington lobbying culture he has long decried. His campaign manager, Rick Davis, co-founded a lobbying firm whose clients have included Verizon and SBC Telecommunications. His chief political adviser, Charles R. Black Jr., is chairman of one of Washington's lobbying powerhouses, BKSH and Associates, which has represented AT&T, Alcoa, JPMorgan and U.S. Airways." ... "Senior advisers Steve Schmidt and Mark McKinnon work for firms that have lobbied for Land O' Lakes, UST Public Affairs, Dell and Fannie Mae." ... "[Charles] Black's current clients include General Motors, United Technologies, JPMorgan and AT&T." ... "In McCain's case, the fact that lobbyists are essentially running his presidential campaign -- most of them as volunteers -- seems to some people to be at odds with his anti-lobbying rhetoric." ... "McCain's reliance on lobbyists for key jobs -- both in the Senate and in his presidential campaign --extends beyond his inner circle. McCain recently hired Mark Buse to be his Senate chief of staff. Buse led the Commerce Committee staff in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and was until last fall a lobbyist for ML Strategies, representing eBay, Goldman Sachs Group, Cablevision, Tenneco and Novartis Pharmaceuticals." (1, 2) -By Michael D. Shear and Jeffrey H. Birnbaum with contributions by Glenn Kessler, Alice Crites and Chris Cillizza -WashingtonPost

- John McCain -Corporate - Politics - Lawmaker - Jets - US_Debt - US - Iraq - Military - Children's - Health-Care - Barack Obama - 2008 Election
"Transcript: Howard Dean On John McCain And The Republican 'Culture Of Corruption'." ... "Q: So there is big news about [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain -- the story that is in the New York Times, raising questions about his relationship with a lobbyist. This is a story the McCain people are saying is unfair and untrue. What do you think?"

"[Democratic National Committee chairman Howard] Dean: I have no idea whether the affair story is true or not, and I don't care. What I do care about is John McCain -- and this has been well-documented -- is talking all the time about being a reformer and a maverick, and in fact, he has taken thousands of dollars from corporations, ridden on their corporate jets, and then turned around and tried to do favors for them and get projects approved. He has tons of lobbyists on his staff. This is a guy who is very close to the lobbyist community, a guy who has been documented again and again by taking contributions and then doing favors for it. This is not a guy who is a reformer. This is a guy who has been in Washington for 25 years and wants to give us four more years of the same, and I don't think we need that."

"Dean: Yes, he certainly has. This goes all the way back to the Keating Five Scandal and the S & L [Savings and Loan] scandals, where he took a hundred thousand donations, rode on corporate jets and then intervened on Charles Keating's behalf -- and again and again we see this. We even saw -- it's so hypocritical -- we even saw that he is trying to harass [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama about whether he's going to take public financing in the campaign, and he forewent his own public financing in the primaries after getting a loan, based on the idea that he might take public financing." ... "This is not a guy who is a reformer. He talks about change, and he makes a big deal about not being like [Republican President] Bush when in fact he is Bush. He voted for Bush's tax cuts after saying he didn't, and has been responsible for a $6 trillion national debt that our children are going to have to pay. He thinks we ought to stay in Iraq for 100 years. He thought it was great that the president vetoed health care for our kids under 18. This is four more years of George Bush, and I don't think the American people are going to buy it."

_2008 News News Reference February 2008 News
February 21, 2008 News URL: #February-21-2008-News
20080221 Thursday

- John McCain - Rick Davis - Money - Politics - History -  - Telecommunications - Federal - Law - 2008 Election - Arizona
"CBS' Smith failed to challenge claim by McCain's campaign manager -- a former lobbyist -- that McCain "is probably most feared by every lobbyist"." ... "Summary: While discussing a New York Times article about [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain's relationship with a telecommunications lobbyist, CBS Early Show host Harry Smith did not challenge McCain campaign manager Rick Davis when Davis asserted that McCain "is probably most feared by every lobbyist in this town of Washington"; he did not note that Davis is a registered lobbyist who, the Times reported, "represented companies" before McCain's [Senate Commerce] committee." ... "A July 11, 2007, Politicoarticle reported that Davis, who also served as McCain's campaign manager in 2000, "founded a lobbying firm -- Davis, Manafort Inc. -- which has made at least $2.8 million lobbying Congress since 1998." According to a disclosure report filed with the Senate, Davis registered to lobby the Senate from 1998 to 2005 for Davis Manafort. A March 2000 report by the Center for Public Integrity noted that Davis represented two telecommunication companies, COMSAT and SBC Communication, Inc., that "had major (and controversial) mergers pending before the Federal Communications Commission in 1999, and both mergers were approved (the Commerce Committee has legislative oversight authority, and therefore quite a bit of political influence, over the FCC [Federal Communications Commission])." A February 3, 2007, National Journal article (accessed via the Nexis database) reported that "Davis, a longtime lobbyist and financial consultant," is "on leave" from Davis Manafort to work for McCain's campaign." ... "Additionally, Davis served as the president of the Reform Institute, an institute that the Times wrote was founded by McCain "to promote his cause and, in the process, his career." A July 28, 2005, Roll Call article (accessed via Nexis) by staff writer Paul Kane reported that Davis, who had been earning "$110,000 a year," "dropped his title of Reform Institute president" in July 2005." -By Eric H. Hananoki -MediaMatters.org

- Barack Obama - 2008 Election - Texas
"Police concerned about order to stop screening." ... "Security details at [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama's rally Wednesday stopped screening people for weapons at the front gates more than an hour before the Democratic presidential candidate took the stage at Reunion Arena [in Dallas, Texas]." ... "The order to put down the metal detectors and stop checking purses and laptop bags came as a surprise to several Dallas police officers who said they believed it was a lapse in security." ... "Dallas Deputy Police Chief T.W. Lawrence, head of the Police Department's homeland security and special operations divisions, said the order -- apparently made by the U.S. Secret Service -- was meant to speed up the long lines outside and fill the arena's vacant seats before Obama came on." -By Jack Douglas Jr. -Star-Telegram.com

- John McCain - Money - Politics - 2008 Election - New Hampshire
"McCain Loan Raises FEC Questions." ... "The government's top campaign finance regulator says [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain can't drop out of the primary election's public financing system until he answers questions about a loan he obtained to kickstart his once faltering presidential campaign." ... "Federal Election Commission Chairman David Mason [a Republican appointee], in a letter to McCain this week, said the all-but-certain Republican nominee needs to assure the commission that he did not use the promise of public money to help secure a $4 million line of credit he obtained in November." ... "At issue is the fine print in the loan agreement between McCain and Fidelity & Trust Bank. McCain secured the loan using his list of contributors, his promise to use that list to raise money to pay off the loan and by taking out a life insurance policy." ... "But the agreement also said that if McCain were to withdraw from the public financing system before the end of 2007 and then were to lose the New Hampshire primary by more than 10 percentage points, he would have had to reapply to the FEC [Federal Election Commission] for public matching funds and provide the bank additional collateral for the loan." ... "In his letter to McCain, Mason said the commission would allow a candidate to withdraw from the public finance system as long as he had not received any public funds and had not pledged the certification of such funds "as security for private financing."" (1, 2) -By Jim Kuhnhenn -AP via -WTOPnews.com

- Hillary Clinton - Barack Obama - Texas - Austin - 2008 Election
"The CNN Democratic presidential debate in Texas." ... "This is the transcript of the debate between [2008 Election] Democratic presidential candidates [Senators] Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama on February 21, 2008 at the University of Texas in Austin." -CNN

- Mitt Romney - 2008 Election - History
"Romney spent $42.3m of own money." ... "Before abandoning his bid to become president, [former 2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Mitt Romney put in at least $42.3 million of his own money, a big chunk of the $97 million he spent on the campaign." ... "The former Massachusetts governor's total self-financing puts him ahead of Steve Forbes, the publisher who spent $38 million on his unsuccessful run for the GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] nomination in 1996, but shy of the $63.5 million that H. Ross Perot spent on his 1992 third-party presidential campaign." ... "Romney's total loan also equates to about $167,000 for each of the 253 delegates he won before suspending his campaign. By suspending his bid, Romney, who made an estimated $250 million as a venture capitalist, can keep raising money to possibly pay himself back." ... "Romney also reported raising $9.7 million last month, bringing his campaign total to $63.6 million." -BostonGlobe

- John McCain - Vicki Iseman - Corporate - Government -Vacations - Jets - Real Estate - Television Networks - Media - Communications - Law - Politics - History - Phoenix - Arizona - 2008 Election
"For McCain, Self-Confidence on Ethics Poses Its Own Risk." ... "Even as he [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator John McCain] has vowed to hold himself to the highest ethical standards, his confidence in his own integrity has sometimes seemed to blind him to potentially embarrassing conflicts of interest." ... "Mr. McCain promised, for example, never to fly directly from Washington to Phoenix [Arizona], his hometown, to avoid the impression of self-interest because he sponsored a law that opened the route nearly a decade ago. But like other lawmakers, he often flew on the corporate jets of business executives seeking his support, including the media moguls Rupert Murdoch, Michael R. Bloomberg and Lowell W. Paxson, Ms. [lobbyist Vicki] Iseman’s client. (Last year he voted to end the practice.)" ... "Mr. McCain helped found a nonprofit group to promote his personal battle for tighter campaign finance rules. But he later resigned as its chairman after news reports disclosed that the group was tapping the same kinds of unlimited corporate contributions he opposed, including those from companies seeking his favor. He has criticized the cozy ties between lawmakers and lobbyists, but is relying on corporate lobbyists to donate their time running his presidential race and recently hired a lobbyist to run his Senate office. " ... "During Mr. McCain’s four years in the House [of Representatives], Mr. [Charles] Keating, his family and his business associates contributed heavily to his political campaigns. The banker gave Mr. McCain free rides on his private jet, a violation of Congressional ethics rules (he later said it was an oversight and paid for the trips). They vacationed together in the Bahamas. And in 1986, the year Mr. McCain was elected to the Senate, his wife joined Mr. Keating in investing in an Arizona shopping mall." ... "Mr. Keating had taken over the Lincoln Savings and Loan Association and used its federally insured deposits to gamble on risky real estate and other investments. He pressed Mr. McCain and other lawmakers to help hold back federal banking regulators." ... "For years, Mr. McCain complied. At Mr. Keating’s request, he wrote several letters to regulators, introduced legislation and helped secure the nomination of a Keating associate to a banking regulatory board." ... "By early 1987, though, the thrift was careering toward disaster. Mr. McCain agreed to join several senators, eventually known as the Keating Five, for two private meetings with regulators to urge them to ease up." ... "When Lincoln went bankrupt in 1989 — one of the biggest collapses of the savings and loan crisis, costing taxpayers $3.4 billion — the Keating Five became infamous. The scandal sent Mr. Keating to prison and ended the careers of three senators, who were censured in 1991 for intervening. Mr. McCain, who had been a less aggressive advocate for Mr. Keating than the others, was reprimanded only for “poor judgment” and was re-elected the next year. " ... "A champion of deregulation, Mr. McCain wrote letters in 1998 and 1999 to the Federal Communications Commission urging it to uphold marketing agreements allowing a television company to control two stations in the same city, a crucial issue for Glencairn Ltd. [Limited], one of Ms. Iseman’s clients. He introduced a bill to create tax incentives for minority ownership of stations; Ms. Iseman represented several businesses seeking such a program. And he twice tried to advance legislation that would permit a company to control television stations in overlapping markets, an important issue for Paxson." ... "In late 1999, Ms. Iseman asked Mr. McCain’s staff to send a letter to the commission to help Paxson, now Ion Media Networks, on another matter. Mr. Paxson was impatient for F.C.C. approval of a television deal, and Ms. Iseman acknowledged in an e-mail message to The Times that she had sent to Mr. McCain’s staff information for drafting a letter urging a swift decision." ... "Mr. McCain complied. He sent two letters to the commission, drawing a rare rebuke for interference from its chairman." (1, 2, 3, 4) -By Jim Rutenberg, Marilyn W. Thompson, David D. Kirkpatrick and Stephen Labaton with contributions by Barclay Walsh and Kitty Bennett -NYTimes

- John McCain - Vicki Iseman - Corporate - Government - Television Stations - Media - Communications - Law - Politics - Jet - Travel - History - Arizona - Florida - Pennsylvania - 2008 Election
"McCain: Reports on lobbyist a "smear"." ... "The story alleges that McCain wrote letters and pushed legislation involving television station ownership that would have benefited [lobbyist Vicki] Iseman's clients." ... "In late 1999, [Arizona Republican Senator and 2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain twice wrote letters to the Federal Communications Commission on behalf of Florida-based Paxson Communications - which had paid Iseman as its lobbyist - urging quick consideration of a proposal to buy a television station license in Pittsburgh [Pennsylvania]. At the time, Paxson's chief executive, Lowell W. "Bud" Paxson, also was a major contributor to McCain's 2000 presidential campaign." ... "McCain did not urge the FCC commissioners to approve the proposal, but he asked for speedy consideration of the deal, which was pending from two years earlier. In an unusual response, then-FCC Chairman William Kennard complained that McCain's request "comes at a sensitive time in the deliberative process" and "could have procedural and substantive impacts on the commission's deliberations and, thus, on the due process rights of the parties."" ... "McCain wrote the letters after he received more than $20,000 in contributions from Paxson executives and lobbyists. Paxson also lent McCain his company's jet at least four times during 1999 for campaign travel." -By Libby Quaid -AP via -Star-Telegram.com

- John McCain - Vicki Iseman - Corporate - Telecommunications - Broadcasting - Media - History - Arizona - Virginia - 2008 Election
"McCain's Ties To Lobbyist Worried Aides: Before 2000 Campaign, Advisers Tried to Bar Her." ... "Aides to [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain confronted a telecommunications lobbyist in late 1999 and asked her to distance herself from the senator during the presidential campaign he was about to launch, according to one of McCain's longest-serving political strategists." ... "John Weaver, who was McCain's closest confidant until leaving his current campaign last year, said he met with Vicki Iseman at the Center Cafe at Union Station and urged her to stay away from McCain. Association with a lobbyist would undermine his image as an opponent of special interests, aides had concluded." ... "Members of the senator's small circle of advisers also confronted McCain directly, according to sources, warning him that his continued ties to a lobbyist who had business before the powerful commerce committee he chaired threatened to derail his presidential ambitions." ... "Iseman, 40, who joined the Arlington[Virginia]-based firm of Alcalde & Fay as a secretary and rose to partner within a few years, often touted her access to the chairman of the Senate commerce committee as she worked on behalf of clients such as Cablevision, EchoStar and Tribune Broadcasting, according to several other lobbyists who spoke on the condition of anonymity." ... "Three telecom lobbyists and a former McCain aide, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that Iseman spoke up regularly at meetings of telecom lobbyists in Washington, extolling her connections to McCain and his office. She would regularly volunteer at those meetings to be the point person for the telecom industry in dealing with McCain's office." ... "Iseman clients have given nearly $85,000 to McCain campaigns since 2000, according to records at the Federal Election Commission." -By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum and Michael D Shear with contributions by James V. Grimaldi and Alice Crites -WashingtonPost

- Terrorism - Radio - Language - Race - Politics - 2008 Election - Obama
"O'Reilly: "I don't want to go on a lynching party against Michelle Obama unless there's evidence, hard facts, that say this is how the woman really feels"." ... "Summary: In a discussion of recent comments made by Michelle Obama [wife of 2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate Barack Obama], Bill O'Reilly took a call from a listener who stated that, according to "a friend who had knowledge of her," Obama " 'is a very angry,' her word was 'militant woman.' " O'Reilly later stated: "I don't want to go on a lynching party against Michelle Obama unless there's evidence, hard facts, that say this is how the woman really feels. If that's how she really feels -- that America is a bad country or a flawed nation, whatever -- then that's legit."" -Bill O'Reilly via -MediaMatters.org

- US - China - Bain Capital - Networker - Foreign - Military - Government - Hacking - Communications - Technologies - Politics -Mass
"3Com's sale to Bain, Huawei stymied: National-security agency fails to approve $2.2 billion deal." ... "Concerns about national security could scuttle the $2.2 billion sale of networker 3Com Corp. [Corporation], shares of which dropped as much as 20% on Wednesday." ... "Marlborough, Mass.[Massachusetts]-based 3Com (COMS) and its two partners -- Bain Capital Partners LLC [Limited Liability Company] and Huawei Technologies Co. [Company] -- said they would withdraw their application with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States." ... "The source of the agency's concern is the participation of Huawei, the largest networker in China and a company with links to the mainland's communist government. Huawei is run by a former mid-ranking officer in the Chinese army whose firm has raised the ire of the U.S. [United States] government and Western rivals such as Cisco Systems Inc. [Incorporated]." ... "It's no longer a top-tier networking company, but 3Com still does substantial business with the U.S. The vendor's TippingPoint subsidiary, for example, sells anti-hacking and other network-security services to the Defense Department." ... "The U.S. has been particularly sensitive about foreign ownership of networking and communications assets, especially in light of repeated attempts to hack the nation's defense systems. Chinese-based hackers are viewed as a major concern. " -By Jeffry Bartash -MarketWatch

- Trent Lott - Money - Politics - Mississippi
"Judge: Scruggs indictment stands; Lott's name mentioned." ... "Powerful plaintiffs attorney Richard "Dickie" Scruggs tried to use his brother-in-law, former U.S. [Mississippi Republican Senator] Sen. Trent Lott, to influence the ruling of a sitting Mississippi judge, a government witness testified Wednesday in federal court." ... "The testimony about Lott came during a hearing in a separate federal case in which Scruggs, his son Zach, and law partner Sidney Backstrom are charged with trying to bribe Circuit Judge Henry Lackey to get a favorable ruling in a dispute over $26.5 million in legal fees." ... "Former New Albany [Mississippi] attorney Timothy Balducci, who has pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge and is helping prosecutors in their case against Scruggs, brought up Lott's name during his testimony." ... "When pressed by Scruggs' attorney, John Keker, Balducci testified that Scruggs had tried to use Lott to influence rulings made by Hinds County [Mississippi] Circuit Judge Bobby DeLaughter in another dispute involving legal fees." (1, 2) -By Chris Talbott -AP via -NOLA.com

- John McCain - Torture - Politics - Government - Military - Intelligence - Terrorism - 2008 Election - NY
"McCain: Bush Should Veto Torture Bill." ... "[2008 Election] Republican presidential candidate John McCain said [Republican] President Bush should veto a measure that would bar the CIA [Central Intelligence Agency] from using waterboarding and other harsh interrogation methods on terror suspects." ... "McCain voted against the bill, which would restrict the CIA to using only the 19 interrogation techniques listed in the Army field manual." ... "His vote was controversial because the manual prohibits waterboarding -- a simulated drowning technique that McCain also opposes -- yet McCain doesn't want the CIA bound by the manual and its prohibitions." ... "One supporter of the bill, [New York Democratic Senator] Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said last week that if Bush vetoes the measure, "he will be voting in favor of waterboarding."" -By Libby Quaid -AP via -LAtimes

- History
"Gold Rises to Record $949.20 an Ounce on Inflation Concerns." ... "Gold futures rose to $949.20, the highest price ever, after energy costs surged to a record, boosting the appeal of the precious metal as a hedge against inflation." ... "Gold has touched a record 11 times this year, after jumping 31 percent in 2007 as U.S. inflation accelerated at the fastest pace since 1990." -By Pham-Duy Nguyen -Bloomberg

- Stephen Johnson - Mary E Peters - Dick Cheney - Government - Political - Gas - Auto - Makers - Fuel - Economy - Laws - Environmental - Health - Safety - American - People - Transportation - California - History - Global - Climate - Clean Air Act
"EPA blocks California bid to limit greenhouse gases from cars." ... "The [Republican President] Bush administration blocked efforts by California and 16 other states Wednesday to limit greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks, setting up a political and legal fight over whether states can take a lead role in combatting global warming." ... "[Republican President Bush's] Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen Johnson rejected California's request for a waiver from the federal government to impose its tough tailpipe emissions standards. The other states were poised to adopt similar rules if California's request was granted." ... "The states represent nearly half the U.S. [United States] population, and their laws would effectively require automakers to cut greenhouse gas emissions nationwide, despite [Republican] President Bush's rejection of mandatory national standards." ... "Johnson said Congress' passage of an energy bill this week that raises fuel economy standards for all cars and trucks to 35 miles per gallon by 2020 made the state laws unnecessary." ... "California officials said they believed Johnson had long ago decided to oppose the state's waiver, and said he was using the newly passed energy bill as an excuse. Nothing in the new law prevents states from taking stronger action, they said." ... ""I find this disgraceful," said [California Democratic Senator] Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.[Democratic-California], who helped write the fuel-economy law. "The passage of the energy bill does not give the EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] a green light to shirk its responsibility to protect the health and safety of the American people from air pollution."" ... "It was the first time the EPA has flat-out denied a waiver request by California under the Clean Air Act. The law gives California special authority to set stronger standards because the state has a long history of smog and other air-quality problems." ... "California officials complained that EPA's decision-making process for the waiver was tainted months ago when documents revealed that Transportation Secretary Mary Peters led a lobbying campaign to urge lawmakers to call the EPA and oppose the waiver request." ... "Automakers have been meeting regularly at the White House to discuss the new fuel-economy standards. The Detroit News reported that [Republican] Vice President Dick Cheney met with the CEOs [Chief Executive Officers] of Chrysler and Ford this fall to try to influence the policy." -By Zachary Coile -SFGate.com

- Military - Survey - US -Iraq - China - Iran - Politics
"Officers: U.S. military stretched 'dangerously thin'." ... "The Iraq war has strained U.S. forces to the point where they could not fight another large-scale war, according to a survey of military officers." ... "Of those surveyed, 88 percent believe the demands of the Iraq war have "stretched the U.S. military dangerously thin."" ... "On the other hand, 56 percent of the officers disagree that the war has "broken" the military." ... "Eighty percent of officers believe it is unreasonable to expect the U.S. military to wage another major war successfully at present." ... "Foreign Policy magazine and the Center for a New American Security on Tuesday issued the U.S. Military Index, a survey of 3,400 present and former U.S. military officers." ... ""We asked the officers whether they thought the U.S. military was stronger or weaker than it was five years ago," said Michael Boyer, who helped write the report." ... ""Sixty percent said the U.S. military is weaker than it was five years ago," Boyer told reporters." ... "The officers believe "that either China or Iran, not the United States, is emerging as the strategic victor" in the Iraq war." -CNN

- Brent Wilkes - Randy "Duke" Cunningham - Money - Politics - Military - California
"Wilkes sentenced to 12 years in prison." ... "Brent Wilkes, the Poway [California] defense contractor who federal prosecutors contend was the mastermind behind the largest congressional bribery scheme in history, was sentenced to 12 years in prison Tuesday." ... "Wilkes, 53, who had been free on bond, was convicted on Nov. 5 of conspiracy, bribery, fraud and money laundering in connection with the bribery scheme that brought down former [California Republican Representative] Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, once a highly respected war hero." ... "Cunningham pleaded guilty to conspiracy and tax evasion. He was sentenced to eight years and four months in federal prison in March 2006." ... "Prosecutors said Wilkes' decade-long bribery of the former congressman netted him $46 million." ... "During Wilkes' trial, prosecutors presented evidence that he showered Cunningham, a Republican congressman from Rancho Santa Fe [California], with expensive meals, gifts, fancy trips, cash bribes and prostitutes." ... "Prosecutors wanted to have Wilkes sentenced to 25 years in prison and said that at a minimum, he should be given 16 years and eight months in prison, twice the length of Cunningham's sentence." ... "Probation officials had recommended a 60-year term for Wilkes." -By Angelica Martinez -SignOnSanDiego.com

- Corporate - Government - Politics - Hurricane Katrina - Flood - Disaster - New Orleans - Louisiana - University - Homes
"Supreme Court rejects Katrina victims' flood insurance case." ... "The Supreme Court refused Tuesday to offer help to Hurricane Katrina victims who want their insurance companies to pay for flood damage to their homes and businesses." ... "The justices rejected appeals from Xavier University [in New Orleans, Louisiana] and 68 other individuals and businesses seeking to allow their lawsuits against the insurers to go forward." -AssociatedPress

- Oil - History - Texas - US - Countries - Nigeria - Venezuela
"Oil Closes Above $100 For First Time." ... "There was no single driver behind oil's sharp price jump; investors seized on an explosion at a 67,000 barrel per day refinery in Texas, the falling dollar, the possibility that OPEC [Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries] may cut production next month, the threat of new violence in Nigeria and continuing tensions between the U.S. [United States] and Venezuela." ... "Light, sweet crude for March delivery rose $4.51 to settle at a record $100.01 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after earlier rising to $100.10, a new trading record. It was the first time since Jan. 3 that oil had been above $100." ... "Oil prices are still within the range of inflation-adjusted highs set in early 1980. Depending on how the adjustment is calculated, $38 a barrel then would be worth $96 to $103 or more today." -AP via -CBSNews

- Government - Spying - Intelligence - Law - Politics - Civil Liberties
"Top court won't review Bush domestic spying case." ... "The Supreme Court on Tuesday turned down a legal challenge to the warrantless domestic spying program [Republican] President George W. Bush created after the Sept. 11 attacks." ... "The American Civil Liberties Union had asked the justices to hear the case after a lower court ruled the ACLU and other groups and individuals that sued the government had no legal right to do so because they could not prove they had been affected by the program." ... "The civil liberties group also asked the nation's highest court to make clear that Bush does not have the power under the U.S. Constitution to engage in intelligence surveillance within the United States that Congress has expressly prohibited." ... ""It's very disturbing that the president's actions will not be reviewed by the Supreme Court," said Jameel Jaffer, director of the ACLU's National Security Project. "Allowing the executive branch to police itself flies in the face of the constitutional system of checks and balances."" (1, 2) -By James Vicini with contributions by Lori Santos -Reuters

- Drug - Safety - US - China - Manufacturers - Corporate - Government - Database - Politics - Michigan
"FDA Says It Approved The Wrong Drug Plant: Heparin Probe Sends Inspectors to China." ... "The Chinese facility that supplies the active ingredient of the widely used blood thinner heparin was never inspected by the [Republican President Bush's] Food and Drug Administration because the agency confused its name with another just like it, agency officials said yesterday." ... "More than 350 adverse reactions to the drug have been reported to the FDA since the end of 2007, including a dangerous lowering of blood pressure, breathing difficulties and vomiting. Four patients who took the drug died. One of its two manufacturers, Baxter International, stopped selling its multiple-dose vials of heparin earlier this month, and yesterday the FDA advised doctors to prescribe alternatives." ... "Millions of people each year are given the drug during dialysis or to prevent complications from surgery, but the FDA has never checked the Chinese plant where the active ingredient is made." ... "[Michigan Democratic Representative John] Dingell noted that the agency seems uncertain even of the number of foreign drugmakers, with one database saying there are 7,000 while another counts 3,000." -By Marc Kaufman -WashingtonPost

- Cuba- Military - People - History
"Castro resigns as president, state-run paper reports." ... "Fidel Castro announced his resignation as president of Cuba and commander in chief of Cuba's military Tuesday, according to a letter published in the state-run newspaper, Granma." ... "The resignation ends nearly a half-century of iron-fisted rule that inspired revolutionaries but frustrated 10 U.S. presidents." ... "Castro revealed his plans without notice by publishing a letter in the middle of the night in state-run newspaper Granma." ... ""I will not aspire to, nor will I accept the position of president of the council of state and commander in chief," Castro wrote. "I wish only to fight as a soldier of ideas. ... Perhaps my voice will be heard."" ... "[Republican] President Bush said Castro's decision ought to spark "a democratic transition" for Cuba." ... "Cuba's leaders plan to elect a president within days. Castro's brother, Raúl, the country's defense minister, has been named publicly as his successor." ... "Castro, 81, captured the world's attention at the age of 32, when he led a band of guerrillas who overthrew a corrupt dictatorship in 1959. He went on to become a thorn in Washington's side by embracing communism and cozying up to the Soviet Union." -Contributed to by Morgan Neill -CNN

- Corporate - Government - Law - Internet - California - US - Swiss
"Whistle-blower site taken offline: A controversial website that allows whistle-blowers to anonymously post government and corporate documents has been taken offline in the US." ... "Wikileaks.org, as it is known, was cut off from the internet following a California court ruling, the site says." ... "The case was brought by a Swiss bank after "several hundred" documents were posted about its offshore activities." ... "Other versions of the pages, hosted in countries such as Belgium and India, can still be accessed." ... "However, the main site was taken offline after the court ordered that Dynadot, which controls the site's domain name, should remove all traces of wikileaks from its servers." ... "The case was brought by lawyers working for the Swiss banking group Julius Baer. It concerned several documents posted on the site which allegedly reveal that the bank was involved with money laundering and tax evasion." ... "A document signed by Judge Jeffery White, who presided over the case, ordered Dynadot to follow six court orders." -BBC/News

- Government
"US banks borrow $50bn via new Fed facility." ... "US banks have been quietly borrowing massive amounts of money from the Federal Reserve in recent weeks by using a new measure the Fed introduced two months ago to help ease the credit crunch." ... "The use of the Fed’s Term Auction Facility, which allows banks to borrow at relatively attractive rates against a wider range of their assets than previously permitted, saw borrowing of nearly $50bn of one-month funds from the Fed by mid-February." -By Gillian Tett -FT.com

- Corporate - Government - US Attorney - Politics - New Jersey - Calif - Indiana - Manufacturer - Investigation
"Christie faces a grilling over Ashcroft role." ... "A congressional committee has called for New Jersey's U.S. attorney, Christopher Christie, to testify at a hearing next week about his appointment of former Attorney General John Ashcroft to a lucrative assignment as a corporate monitor." ... "[California Democratic Representative] Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.[Democratic-California]), who will chair the Feb. 26 hearing, said she and other Judiciary Committee members want to discuss Ashcroft's hiring, role and compensation at Zimmer Holdings, an Indiana-based manufacturer that accepted a monitor to settle a fraud investigation with Christie's office." ... "The contract calls for Ashcroft's Washington-based consulting firm to collect between $27 million and $52 million over 18 months." ... "The hearing, before members of a subcommittee on commercial and administrative law, represents part of the growing scrutiny on out-of-court settlements between corporations and federal prosecutors, a practice that has flourished in recent years without court or congressional oversight. In many of the settlements, called deferred prosecutions, prosecutors privately negotiate the terms with target companies, then appoint private lawyers to monitor the companies' compliance." -By John P. Martin andd Jeff Whelan -NJ.com

- Afghanistan - People - Military - Politics - Iraq - US - Canada
"140 Afghans Killed in 2 Days of Bombings." ... "A suicide car bomber killed 38 Afghans at a crowded market Monday, pushing the death toll from two days of militant bombings to about 140." ... "The marketplace blast, which targeted a Canadian army convoy, came a day after the country's deadliest insurgent attack since a U.S. invasion defeated the Taliban regime in late 2001. The toll from that bombing in a crowd watching a dog fight rose to more than 100." ... "The back-to-back blasts in the southern province of Kandahar could be a sign insurgents are now willing to risk high civilian casualties while attacking security forces. Though their attacks occasionally have killed dozens, militants in Afghanistan have generally sought to avoid targeting civilians, unlike insurgents in Iraq's war." ... "The previous deadliest bombing in Afghanistan killed about 70 people _ mostly students _ in November [2007], part of a record year of violence in 2007 that included more than 140 suicide attacks." (1, 2) -By Allauddin Khan and Noor Khan with contributions by Matiullah Achakzai, Rahim Faiez and Paul Ames -AP -WashingtonPost

- People - Poverty - Economy
"Some homeless turn to foreclosed homes." ... "The nation's foreclosure crisis has led to a painful irony for homeless people: On any given night they are outnumbered in some cities by vacant houses. Some street people are taking advantage of the opportunity by becoming squatters." ... "Foreclosed homes often have an advantage over boarded-up and dilapidated houses that have been abandoned because of rundown conditions: Sometimes the heat, lights and water are still working." ... ""That's what you call convenient," said James Bertan, 41, an ex-convict and self-described "bando," or someone who lives in abandoned houses." -AP via -USATODAY

- 

- 

- 

- 

- John McCain - US - Iraq - Military - Media - 2008 Election - Arizona - Fla - Calif
"McCain Overstates His Criticisms Of Rumsfeld." ... "As he gets closer to the Republican nomination, [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain has been trying to balance his unqualified support for the Iraq war by reminding audiences that he was also a tough critic of how it was managed until [Republican] President Bush finally changed strategies a year ago. In recent weeks, McCain has gone so far as to tell audiences that he was "the only one" who called for Donald H. Rumsfeld's resignation as defense secretary." ... "The trick is that he never did, at least not publicly." ... "While campaigning in Fort Myers, Fla. [Florida], on Jan. [January] 26, he told a crowd: "In the conflict that we're in, I'm the only one that said we have to abandon the Rumsfeld strategy -- and Rumsfeld -- and adopt a new strategy." Four days later during a debate at the [Republican] Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., [California] aired on CNN, McCain said, "I'm the only one that said that Rumsfeld had to go."" ... "A McCain spokesman acknowledged this week that that was not correct. "He did not call for his resignation," said the campaign's Brian Rogers." ... "McCain's false account has been unwittingly incorporated into the narrative he is selling by some news organizations, including The Washington Post." -By Peter Baker -WashingtonPost

- John McCain - Federal - Law - Politics - Maryland - New Hampshire - 2008 Election
"McCain Got Loan by Pledging to Seek Federal Funds." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain's cash-strapped campaign borrowed $1 million from a Bethesda [Maryland] bank two weeks before the New Hampshire primary by pledging to enter the public financing system if his bid for the presidency faltered, newly disclosed records show." ... "McCain had already taken a $3 million bank loan in November to keep his campaign afloat, and he sought from the same bank $1 million more shortly before this month's Super Tuesday contests, this time pledging incoming but unprocessed contributions as collateral." ... "The unorthodox lending terms also raised fresh questions from McCain's critics about his ability to repeatedly draw money from the Maryland-based Fidelity & Trust Bank. Campaign finance lawyers speculated whether McCain may have inadvertently committed himself to entering the public financing system for the remainder of the primary season by holding out the prospect of taking public matching funds in exchange for the $1 million loan in December." ... "Cleta Mitchell, a veteran campaign finance lawyer and a McCain critic, said she has never encountered a similar agreement." ... ""They've clearly got a sweetheart deal with this bank," Mitchell said. "This bank is just a cash register for them."" (1, 2) -By Matthew Mosk with contributions by Perry Bacon Jr. -WashingtonPost

- US - Iraq - MRAP - Military - Vehicles - Science - People - Money - Government - Politics
"Study: Lack of MRAPs cost Marine lives." ... "More than 700 U.S. troops died from roadside bombs because the Marine Corps' devotion to a military vehicle years away from deployment kept it from buying available Mine Resistant, Ambush Protected (MRAP) trucks, according to an internal Marine report obtained Friday by USA TODAY." ... "Instead of fulfilling an urgent Marine request from the field for 1,169 vehicles in February 2005, Marine Corps leaders and analysts delayed fielding the MRAPs, and instead bought more armored Humvees, the report written by Marine science adviser Franz Gayl says." ... "Gayl, who filed for federal whistle-blower protection last May, has criticized the Marines' delays in fielding MRAPs and has briefed members of Congress about the problems in meeting requests from troops in the field. His report, dated Jan. 22, says Marine bureaucrats didn't understand the need for MRAPs and they delayed buying the large, armored vehicles because they wanted to save money for a future replacement for the Humvee called the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV)." ... "Stopping the threat posed by improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Iraq in 2005 was deemed secondary to developing the JLTV, Gayl wrote. The Marines, he wrote, saw JTLV "as a higher priority than the daily killed and wounded being experienced by … known IED threats in 2005."" ... "Improvised explosive devices are the largest single killer of U.S. troops in Iraq and are blamed for at least 60% of all U.S. casualties there. " -By Ray Locker -USATODAY

- Corporate - Government - Drug - Manufacturing - Safety - Politics - Investigation - Wisconsin - Michigan - US - China
"F.D.A. Broke Its Rules by Not Inspecting Chinese Plant With Problem Drug." ... "The Food and Drug Administration [overseen by Republican President Bush] violated its own policies when it approved for sale a crucial blood-thinning drug without first inspecting a Chinese plant which, along with a plant in Wisconsin, made the drug’s active pharmaceutical ingredient." ... "“It was obviously a glitch” that the drug, heparin, produced and sold by Baxter International, was approved for sale without a plant inspection, said Karen Riley, an F.D.A. spokeswoman." ... "[Michigan Democratic] Representative Bart Stupak, Democrat of Michigan and chairman of a House investigative subcommittee, said that no matter what happened with the heparin inquiry, the F.D.A.’s inability to provide basic information about the Chinese manufacturing plant weeks after concerns were first raised was deeply troubling." ... "“They can’t tell us if they’ve inspected this plant, what other problems might have been identified at this plant, or what other U.S. firms might be getting supplies from this plant,” he said." ... "Over the past year, a wave of tainted goods from China, including deadly pet food ingredients and tainted fish, has prompted concern about whether [F.D.A.] regulators are adequately monitoring imports’ safety." -By Gardiner Harris and Walt Bogdanich with contributions by Andrew W. Lehren -NYTimes

- John McCain - Torture - War Crimes - Criminal - Terrorism - Military - Intelligence - Law - Politics - Human Rights - Ariz
"Did McCain Flip-Flop On Torture?" ... "This week, [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., voted against an intelligence bill that stated:" ... ""No individual in the custody or under the effective control of an element of the intelligence community or instrumentality thereof, regardless of nationality or physical location, shall be subject to any treatment or technique of interrogation not authorized by the United States Army Field Manual on Human Intelligence Collector Operations."" ... "Andrew Sullivan, who has written admiringly of McCain's anti-torture position in the past, describes himself as "heartbroken."" ... ""I simply cannot see any explanation for this except politics - that McCain feels the need to appease the Republican far right at this point in time,...McCain has indeed been a leader in preventing the military from torturing terror suspects, and in banning waterboarding. But by leaving this lacuna in the law, he gives this president the space he wants. As president himself, of course, McCain would surely instruct the CIA to uphold the American way of interrogation, and not to adopt techniques once used by the Gestapo and prosecuted by the US as war crimes. But we now know that there will be one difference between Obama and McCain in November. One will never tolerate torture; the other just did."" -By Jake Tapper -ABCNEWS.com

- John McCain - Mike Mukasey - Steven G Bradbury - Torture - War Crimes - Criminal - Military - Government - Intelligence - Terrorism - Prisons - Law - Politics - Water - History -Arizona - 2008 Election
"Bush Will Veto Ban On Torture: [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain, Once Tortured Himself, Joins [the Republican President Bush] White House To Oppose Bill Prohibiting Waterboarding." ... "The White House said today that President Bush will veto a measure that would ban the CIA [Central Intelligence Agency] from using what the administration describes as "enhanced interrogation methods" on terror suspects." ... "The provision, part of a broad intelligence authorization bill passed by the House and Senate, would prohibit any interrogation techniques to be used on prisoners that are not authorized or condoned by the U.S. Army Field Manual." ... "[Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain, who has previously spoken out against torture (having been tortured himself while held captive during the Vietnam War), voted against the bill, but said his vote was not inconsistent with his previous calls for a ban." ... "McCain had earlier sponsored the 2006 Detainee Treatment Act which included a ban on waterboarding, which President Bush invalidated by a signing statement giving himself the authority to ignore it." ... "Although President Bush has stated that the United States has not and will not torture people, it has been learned that Mr. Bush himself has authorized the use of waterboarding on detainees (a practice previously prosecuted by the United States as a war crime), and has claimed the authority to do so again in certain circumstances." ... "Despite military interrogators' assertions that waterboarding and other brands of torture do not produce reliable intelligence, the Bush administration continues to argue that it needs the option of waterboarding when seeking information from recalcitrant prisoners." ... "[Republican President Bush's] Attorney General Mike Mukasey has declined to declare that waterboarding is torture, despite congressional demands during and after his Senate confirmation process, fueling the administration critics' assumption that admitting such would expose administration figures who authorized the practice to criminal prosecution." ... "In 2005 [under Republican President Bush, Steven G.] Bradbury signed two secret legal memos authorizing the CIA to use waterboarding, as well as physical violence and freezing temperatures, when questioning terror detainees." -Contributed to by Mark Knoller and David Morgan -AP -CBSNews

- Pakistan - People - Politics
"Musharraf 'obstacle to stability' By Jill McGivering BBC News: A majority of Pakistanis say stability and security in Pakistan would improve if President Pervez Musharraf resigned, according to a BBC World Service poll." ... "The survey of more than 1,400 people across Pakistan suggested support for Mr Musharraf has fallen dramatically." ... "Pakistanis are preparing to vote in parliamentary polls on Monday that many fear could be rigged." ... "Mr Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 coup, has promised that the elections will be fair." ... "Pakistanis polled by the BBC World Service were divided about whether the general elections scheduled for 18 February would be free and fair." ... "The results of the latest poll found a particularly low approval rating for his [Musharraf's] performance. Only 15% of people asked said they approved of the job he was doing, while 72% disapproved." ... "That compared with an approval rate of 30% at the end of last year. Three-quarters of the people asked said they would like him to resign." ... "In recent months, a series of events have helped to change the political landscape. The murder of [former Prime Minister Benazir] Ms Bhutto on 27 December created a wave of sympathy for the opposition." ... "Her widower and the new co-chair of her Pakistan People's Party (PPP), Asif Zardari, has so far managed to keep his party unified and opinion polls suggest that the PPP may have strengthened its position." -BBC/News

- Home - Building - History
"Property at heart of financial storm." ... "Real estate is at the very centre of the financial storm that has dragged the US economy close, if not into, recession." ... "The median price of an existing single family home fell 1.8 per cent last year, the first decline since records began 40 years ago, and probably the first since the Great Depression, the National Association of Realtors has said." ... "A large part of the problem has been the overbuilding of homes. In December the supply of new homes hit its highest level since 1981, while sales of new homes hit their slowest pace since 1994, according to the US Census Bureau." ... "Unsurprisingly, the homebuilding industry has been hit hard. Public homebuilders have chalked up more than $20bn in losses on land and buildings they own, based on data from Standard & Poor’s." -By Daniel Pimlott -FT.com

- Terrorism - Politics - Corporate - Government - Telecom - Amnesty - Noteworthy - Phone - E-Mail -Web - Surveillance
"A veto of the FISA bill endangers Americans: [WATCH OLBERMANN'S SPECIAL COMMENT] The president [Republican President Bush] is demanding immunity for the telecoms yet, he can’t confirm they did anything for which they need to be cleared." ... "A part of what I will say, was said here on Jan. 31. Unfortunately it is both sadder and truer now than it was then." ... "“Who’s to blame?” Mr. Bush also said this afternoon, “Look, these folks in Congress passed a good bill late last summer.... The problem is, they let the bill expire. My attitude is: If the bill was good enough then, why not pass the bill again?”" ... "Like the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. Or Executive Order 90-66. Or The Alien and Sedition Acts. Or slavery." ... "Mr. Bush, you say that our ability to track terrorist threats will be weakened and our citizens will be in greater danger. Yet you have weakened that ability!" ... "You have subjected us, your citizens, to that greater danger! This, Mr. Bush, is simple enough for even you to understand." ... "For the moment, at least, thanks to some true patriots in the House, and your own stubbornness, you have tabled telecom immunity, and the FISA act." ... "You. By your own terms and your definitions, you have just sided with the terrorists. You’ve got to have this law, or we’re all going to die. But, practically speaking, you vetoed this law." ... "It is bad enough, sir, that you were demanding an ex post facto law that could still clear the AT&Ts and the Verizons from responsibility for their systematic, aggressive and blatant collaboration with your illegal and unjustified spying on Americans under this flimsy guise of looking for any terrorists who are stupid enough to make a collect call or send a mass e-mail." ... "But when you demanded it again during the State of the Union address, you wouldn’t even confirm that they actually did anything for which they deserved to be cleared." ... "“The Congress must pass liability protection for companies believed to have assisted in the efforts to defend America.”" ... "Believed? Don’t you know? Don’t you even have the guts Dick Cheney showed in admitting they did collaborate with you?  Does this endless presidency of loopholes and fine print extend even here? If you believe in the seamless mutuality of government and big business, come out and say it! There is a dictionary definition, one word that describes that toxic blend." ... "You’re a fascist — get them to print you a T-shirt with fascist on it! What else is this but fascism? Did you see Mark Klein on this newscast last November?" ... "Mark Klein was the AT&T whistleblower who explained in the placid, dull terms of your local neighborhood IT desk how he personally attached all AT&T circuits, everything, carrying every one of your phone calls, every one of your e-mails, every bit of your Web browsing into a secure room, room No. 641-A at the Folsom Street facility in San Francisco [California], where it was all copied so the government could look at it." ... "Not some of it, not just the international part of it, certainly not just the stuff some spy, a spy both patriotic and telepathic, might be able to divine had been sent or spoken by or to a terrorist." ... "Everything! Every time you looked at a naked picture. Every time you bid on eBay. Every time you phoned in a donation to a Democrat. “My thought was,” Mr. Klein told us last November, “George Orwell’s ‘1984.’ And here I am, forced to connect the Big Brother machine.”" (1, 2, 3) -By Keith Olbermann -MSNBC

- Political - Terrorism - Corporate - Government - Telecom - Amnesty -Surveillance - Intelligence - Secrecy - Consumer - Internet - History
"Bush Spy Bill Stance Called Fear-Mongering: [Republican President Bush] President: U.S. Could Face Attacks That Would Make 9/11 "Pale By Comparison"." ... "President Bush, in remarks meant to spur House Democrats into accepting a controversial new bill that would expand the government's ability to spy on Americans, warned that the country faced terror strikes that would make September 11 "pale by comparison."" ... "In response, critics of the new bill accused Mr. Bush of "fear mongering," and of trying to deflect attention from the bill itself. Its most controversial provision would prevent Americans from suing phone companies that helped the administration spy on them since the [Republican President Bush] White House surveillance program was instituted in 2001." ... "Mr. Bush has made immunity from civil prosecution for the telecoms a must-have element for revamping the nation’s surveillance laws, repeatedly saying he would veto any bill that does not exempt telecoms from lawsuits." ... "The House-passed version does not include telecom immunity. This past week, the Senate approved a similar version which includes a provision that protects telecoms from civil lawsuits." ... "There are approximately 40 lawsuits now brought by citizens and consumer groups against companies that enabled the government to illegally eavesdrop on Americans' phone and Internet communications." ... "Opponents of the administration's program, which engaged wiretaps against any and all Americans without obtaining court-ordered warrants, say the telecoms' participation was illegal. They say that, given the Bush administration's penchant for secrecy, lawsuits against the telecoms are the only way to obtain disclosure about the facts from the government." ... "Information being sought includes details about the origins of the program. The administration admitted that the sweeping domestic surveillance originated in the wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks. However, declassified documents obtained by the National Security Archive and testimony that is part of these lawsuits suggest the National Security Agency program was put into place shortly after Mr. Bush was inaugurated, long before 9/11." -Contributed to by David Morgan -AP -CBSNews

- Hospital Corporations - Pharmaceutical - Corporations - Federal - Investigators - New Jersey - New York - Tennessee - Ohio - Louisiana - Pennsylvania
"Federal investigators recoup $2.2B in healthcare-fraud prosecutions." ... "The largest recovery came from a settlement with Tenet Healthcare Corp. [Corporation], one of the largest for-profit hospital chains in the United States. In a well-publicized case, whistleblowers from inside the company alerted federal authorities, which uncovered evidence that Tenet was manipulating Medicare’s payment system to boost revenue and paid kickbacks to physicians who sent their patients to Tenet facilities. To settle the charges and avoid a court judgment on the accusations, Tenet agreed to pay the government $900 million over the course of four years." ... "Other hospital companies also coughed up millions to the federal government in fraud and abuse cases in fiscal 2006, including St. Barnabas Health Care System in New Jersey ($265 million), Beth Israel Medical Center in New York ($73 million), the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Hospital Authority in Tennessee ($37 million), University Hospitals Health System in Ohio ($13.8 million), Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center in Louisiana ($3.8 million) and the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in Pennsylvania ($2.9 million)." ... "The pharmaceutical company Serono paid $704 million to settle charges that it illegally advised doctors to prescribe an AIDS medicine called Serostim for uses not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), paid kickbacks to cooperative physicians, and conspired with the diagnostic device maker RJL Sciences to market a device not approved by the FDA. RJL Sciences pleaded guilty to its role." ... "Schering-Plough, another drug company, is on the hook for $435 million as a result of several charges, including allegedly giving false information to the FDA, which was investigating whether the company’s marketing practices violated the law." -By Jeffrey Young -TheHill.com

- John McCain - Torture - Prisoners - Food - Water - Medical - Politics - 2008 Election
"John McCain Sells His Soul to the Right: Backs Off on Torture Ban." ... "Has there ever been a more repugnant example of political pandering than [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain's decision to vote against a bill banning waterboarding, putting hoods on prisoners, forcing them to perform sex acts, subjecting them to mock executions, or depriving them of food, water, and medical treatment?" ... "That's right, John McCain, the former POW [Prisoner Of War] who has long been an outspoken critic of the [Republican President] Bush administration's disturbing embrace of extreme interrogation techniques." ... "But that was before his desperate attempt to win over the lunatic fringe that is running the Grand Old Party [Republican Party]." ... "Earlier this week, I showed how outdated the image of McCain as an independent-thinking maverick had become -- and called on the media and independent voters to snap out of their 2000 reverie and see the 2008 McCain for what he has turned into: a Rove-embracing Bush clone, willing to jettison his principles in his hunger for the presidency." ... "And now comes this latest unconscionable capitulation, which should drive a stake through the heart of the McCain-as-straight-talker meme once and for all." -By Arianna Huffington -HuffingtonPost.com

- Josh Bolten - Harriet Miers - US Attorneys - Politics - Investigation - California - Michigan
"House finds Bolten, Miers in contempt of Congress." ... "The House voted Thursday to hold [Republican President Bush's] White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet Miers in contempt of Congress for refusing to testify before a panel investigating the firing of several United States attorneys." ... "The matter will now be referred to the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia." ... "If the fight comes to a head without a compromise having been reached, it could pit Congress’s power to hold White officials in contempt against the president’s right to assert executive privilege." ... "[California Democratic Representative and Speaker of the House Nancy] Pelosi, who stated that she “had hoped that this day would never have come,” added that, if White House officials instruct Department of Justice attorneys not to prosecute the contempt citations, “we will have power to go to federal court and seek civil enforcement of our subpoenas.”" ... "[Michigan Democratic Representative and Judiciary Committee Chairman John] Conyers said he had already discovered “plenty of evidence of wrongdoing at the Department of Justice. He said officials made the decision to fire attorneys on the basis of whether they had pursued public corruption charges against Democratic government officials. He also said that Justice officials made misleading statements to investigators minimizing the apparent involvement of White House personnel in the firings." -By Alexander Bolton and Klaus Marre -TheHill.com

- Peoples - Housing - Safety - Emergency - Politics - Government - Science -Investigators - Censorship - Hurricane Katrina - Hurricane Rita - Weather
"CDC Confirms Health Risks to Occupants of Trailers." ... "Federal health officials have confirmed that high levels of formaldehyde gas pose health risks to hurricane victims housed in 38,000 government trailers on the Gulf Coast, and will recommend that occupants be moved before temperatures rise this spring and summer, [Republican President] Bush administration officials disclosed yesterday." ... "The findings cap nearly two years of internal government deliberation over the housing of hurricane Katrina and Rita survivors in the trailers, and come 23 months after FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency ] first received reports of health problems and test results showing formaldehyde levels at 75 times the U.S.[United States]-recommended workplace safety threshold." ... "[Mississippi Democratic Representative] Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, criticized what he depicted as the [Repblican President] Bush administration's tardy response." ... "FEMA announced plans in July to test the occupied trailers after congressional investigators accused it of suppressing internal warnings about the problem. Testing finally began in late December." -By Spencer S. Hsu -WashingtonPost

- Mary E Peters - Corporate - Government - Politics - Trucking - Safety - Trucks - Emissions - Law - Environmental -Clean Air Act - Union - San Francisco - California - Texas - US - Mexico
"Greens, Teamsters collide with Mexican trucks." ... "International Brotherhood of Teamsters lobbyist Fred McLuckie thought his fight to keep Mexican trucks out of America ended when Congress cut a pilot program’s funding last December." ... "Instead, the veteran lobbyist is still in the fight, after U.S. [United States Republican President Bush's] Transportation Secretary Mary Peters continued to fund the program — a move many interest groups and lawmakers say is unconstitutional." ... "“You never know what to expect in this town,” McLuckie said. “It is certainly disappointing that we’re going back at this program. Our immediate concern is that Mary Peters isn’t following the law.”" ... "The program drew harsh criticism from the Teamsters, citizen rights group Public Citizen and Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association [OOIDA], which have aligned to press safety and pollution concerns with lawmakers. The groups say there is no guarantee that the trucks are in compliance with U.S. safety or emissions standards." ... "“How is it that the administration can simply ignore a law?” said OOIDA Executive Vice President Todd Spencer. “It’s frustrating and shocking that we have such a clear and blatant violation of law by a rogue administration.”" ... "The Teamsters have also gotten support from an unlikely bedfellow: the environmentalist Sierra Club. Greens are concerned that emissions from Mexican trucks could cause El Paso, Texas, and other U.S. cities along the border to violate Environmental Protection Agency regulations." ... "“We think the increase of potential air pollution could put communities along the border out of Clean Air Act compliance,” said Sierra Club spokesman Oliver Bernstein." ... "The U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco [California] heard oral arguments Tuesday over the plaintiff’s charges that Peters broke federal laws and endangered American motorists by allowing the trucks on the road." -By Erika Lovley -Politico.com

- Dick Cheney - Political - Terrorism - Eavesdropping - Phone Calls - Electronic - E-Mails - Corporate- Government - Intelligence - Law -Nevada - Vermont
"Bush May Win on Eavesdropping by Evoking Terror Fears (Update2)." ... "[Republican] President George W. Bush, his popularity at low ebb, may yet score another legislative victory by evoking fears of a new terrorist attack to win stronger powers to conduct electronic eavesdropping." ... "The Democratic-controlled Senate yesterday approved 68-29 a bill giving the president expanded authority to intercept phone calls and e-mails of suspected terrorists. The measure also shields phone companies from lawsuits for helping Bush eavesdrop on suspected terrorists without court warrants after the Sept. [September] 11 attacks." ... "Nineteen Democrats voted with Republicans for the legislation that protects companies such as AT&T Inc. [Incorporated] and Sprint Nextel Corp [Corporation]. from privacy lawsuits seeking billions of dollars in damages. [Nevada Democratic Senator and] Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid acknowledged that ``holding all the Democrats together on this'' wasn't ``doable.''" ... "Bush renewed his demand today for Congress to complete action on the measure promptly. ``Our intelligence professionals must be able to find out who the terrorists are talking to,'' he said at the White House. ``Their goal is to bring destruction to our shores that would make Sept. 11 pale by comparison.''" ... "The House version of the legislation eliminates legal protection for the phone companies, putting it at odds with the Senate. The two houses must now iron out their differences before sending the measure to Bush." ... "The current law authorizing electronic surveillance expires this weekend, and House Democrats said they will vote today on a 21-day extension to allow more time to consider the long-term legislation. Bush said today that any further delay is unacceptable; and his spokeswoman, Dana Perino, told reporters the president would veto any temporary extension." ... "Reid accused Bush of trying to ``bully'' Congress into passing permanent legislation and said the final bill ``will not be what the president wants.'' He said if the current law lapses, it will be ``the fault of Bush'' and [Republican] Vice President Dick Cheney." ... "[Vermont Democratic Senator and] Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy of Vermont said yesterday the [Republican President Bush] administration used ``fear and intimidation'' to win enactment of the current temporary law, which lets Bush conduct electronic surveillance without a court warrant." -By James Rowley -Bloomberg

- Food - Agriculture - History - Illinois - Minnesota - US - World - Droughts/Water - Weather - United Nations
"In Price and Supply, Wheat Is the Unstable Staple." ... "With demand soaring abroad and droughts crimping supply, the world’s wheat stockpiles have fallen to their lowest level in 30 years, and stocks in the United States have dropped to levels unseen since 1948." ... "On Tuesday, prices for a sought-after variety, spring wheat, jumped to $16.73 a bushel on the Minneapolis Grain Exchange [Minneapolis, Minnesota], the latest of several records." ... "Though this week’s prices were nominal records, the inflation-adjusted record for wheat was set in the mid-1970s, when it exceeded $20 a bushel in today’s dollars after huge sales to the Soviet Union." ... "The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates that world wheat production will rise this year to nearly 664 million tons, from about 655 million tons — not enough to replenish stocks and push down prices." -By David Streitfeld -NYTimes

- John McCain - Torture - Terrorism - Military - Prisoner - Intelligence - Law - Politics - CA - AZ - 2008 Election
"Maverick Fails The Test: McCain Votes Against Waterboarding Ban." ... "Today, the Senate brought the Intelligence Authorization Bill to the floor, which contained a provision from [California Democratic Senator] Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) establishing one interrogation standard across the government. The bill requires the intelligence community to abide by the same standards as articulated in the Army Field Manual and bans waterboarding." ... "Just hours ago, the Senate voted in favor of the bill, 51-45." ... "Earlier today, ThinkProgress noted that [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), a former prisoner of war, has spoken strongly in favor of implementing the Army Field Manual standard. When confronted today with the decision of whether to stick with his conscience or cave to the right wing, McCain chose to ditch his principles and instead vote to preserve waterboarding:"

"Mr. McCain, a former prisoner of war, has consistently voiced opposition to waterboarding and other methods that critics say is a form torture. But the Republicans, confident of a White House veto, did not mount the challenge. Mr. McCain voted “no” on Wednesday afternoon."

- Antonin Scalia - Dick Cheney - Torture - Terrorism - Intelligence - Politics - History - Guantanamo - Cuba - US - Military - Prisoners - Human Rights - Switzerland
"Scalia Weighs in Again on Controversy." ... "[Republican President Ronald Reagan appointed Supreme Court] Justice Antonin Scalia's statement that inflicting pain on a terrorism suspect to elicit critical information could be constitutional was not the first - or second or even third - time he has commented on a legal controversy that ultimately could be settled by the Supreme Court." ... "If past practice is any guide, Scalia won't let his remarks or his critics' complaints stop him from taking part in the court's work." ... "In 2006, a few weeks before the court heard arguments over the rights of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Scalia told an audience in Switzerland that the Constitution doesn't protect foreigners who are held there." ... ""War is war, and it has never been the case that when you captured a combatant you have to give them a jury trial in your civil courts. Give me a break," Scalia said." ... "He ignored a request from five retired generals to withdraw from the case and dissented from a ruling in favor of the detainees. Two years earlier, Scalia also dissented in the court's first decision extending some legal rights to the Guantanamo prisoners." ... "Scalia, 71, rebuffed calls in 2004 to step aside from a dispute involving [Republican] Vice President Dick Cheney when it was disclosed Scalia accompanied Cheney on a hunting trip while the court was considering the case." -By Mark Sherman -AssociatedPress

- Larry Craig - Idaho - Minnesota - Law - Police
"Senate ethics panel scolds Craig over bathroom sex sting." ... "The Senate Ethics Committee has sent [Idaho Republican Senator] Sen. Larry Craig a letter scolding him for last summer's Minneapolis [Minnesota] airport sexcapade." ... "Couple of highlights from the letter:" ... "• "The Committee accepts as proven your guilty plea.”" ... "• “Your claims to the court, through counsel, to the effect that your guilty plea resulted from improper pressure or coercion, or that you did not, as a legal matter, know what you were doing when you pled guilty, do not appear credible.”" ... "Here's the full letter [PDF] (pdf)." -By Michael Winter -USATODAY

- Larry Craig - Idaho - Minnesota - Legal - Money - 2008 Election
"Panel: Craig acted improperly in men's room." ... "The Senate Ethics Committee said Wednesday that Idaho [Republican Senator] Sen. Larry Craig acted improperly in connection with a men's room sex sting last year and had brought discredit on the Senate." ... "In a letter to the Republican senator, the ethics panel said Craig's attempt to withdraw his guilty plea after his arrest at a Minneapolis [Minnesota] airport was an effort to evade legal consequences of his own actions." ... "Craig's actions constitute "improper conduct which has reflected discreditably on the Senate," the letter said." ... "The panel also said Craig should have received permission from the ethics panel before using [2008 Election] campaign funds to pay his legal bills" -AP via -USATODAY

- Maryland - Labor - Environmental - Corporate - 2008 Election
"Md. Challenger Edwards Wins Stunning Victory Over Long-Time Incumbent Wynn." ... "U.S. [United States Democratic Representative of Maryland] Rep. Albert R. Wynn (D) conceded a short time ago after losing to Prince George's County lawyer Donna F. Edwards." ... "Wynn, who had served in the 4th District for eight terms, had been targeted by an aggressive advertisement campaign, funded in part with hundreds of thousands of dollars from national labor groups and liberal organizations. The effort apparently convinced voters that Wynn had fallen out of step with his overwhelmingly Democratic district during his 15 years in Congress." ... "Wynn angered progressives nationally by crossing party lines on several key votes and by accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in corporate donations, including thousands in the closing days before the election." ... "When Edwards, the director of a well-known foundation that hands out grants to progressive causes, came within 3.3 percentage points of beating Wynn in 2006, national activists saw the race as an opportunity to send a message that they would hold wayward Democrats accountable." ... "Supported by environmental groups and two large unions, Edwards pledged to accept no contributions from corporate political action committees and said her experience raising her son as a single mother made her better able to understand the struggles of county voters than Wynn." (1, 2, 3) -By Rosalind S. Helderman and William Wan wtih contributions by Nelson Hernandez -WashingtonPost

- US - Iran - Military - Aircraft - Money - Politics - Texas - Singapore
"Fort Worth pair accused of illegal sales to Iran." ... "A Fort Worth [Texas] woman remained in federal custody Tuesday on charges that she along with her husband made millions of dollars by illegally selling commercial and U.S. military aircraft parts to Iran." ... "Laura Woodford, 63, who has been detained for more than a month, and her husband, Brian, 77, who remained at large, conducted part of their underground trade through a company they operated in Fort Worth, according to a 20-count federal indictment charging them with conspiracy, money laundering and other acts in violation of national security laws." ... "The Woodfords exported commercial aircraft parts from the United States to their company in Singapore, Monarch Aviation, and then shipped the parts to Iran without first obtaining a license from the U.S. because of Iran's "support of international terrorism," according to the recently unsealed indictments." ... "In addition, the couple is charged with exporting to Iran the components used to build Chinook military helicopters in the U.S. without getting the proper license or government approval to do so, the Justice Department said in a statement." -By Jack Douglas Jr. -Star-Telegram.com

- US - Global - Home - History
"Global Confidence Weakens for Third Month on Slowdown (Update1)." ... "Global stocks have lost more than $6 trillion this year as credit dried up for some borrowers and the U.S. [United States] expansion stalled." ... "Home sales in the world's largest economy fell at the fastest pace since at least 1963." ... "Financial institutions around the world face $400 billion of write-offs as a consequence of the U.S. subprime mortgage slump, according to Group of Seven estimates, German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck said on Feb. [February] 9." ... "UBS AG, Europe's largest bank by assets, last month posted the biggest loss ever by a bank after raising fourth-quarter writedowns to $14 billion. The world's biggest financial companies have booked more than $145 billion of writedowns and losses since the beginning of 2007, partly because of the declining value of securities backed by assets including U.S. subprime mortgages." ... "The S&P [Standard & Poor's] 500, the benchmark U.S. index, declined 8.1 percent this year to 1348.86 yesterday." -By Ben Sills and Paul Tobin -Bloomberg

- Entertainment - Writers - Television - Internet - Business - Advertising
"Hollywood writers strike ends." ... "Hollywood's costly 100-day walkout came to a widely welcomed end Tuesday after members of the Writers Guild of America voted overwhelmingly to go back to work." ... "On Feb. [February] 25, writers are expected to ratify a new three-year contract that ensures them a stake in the revenue generated when their movies, television shows and other creative works are distributed on the Internet." ... "The walkout, which began Nov. [November] 5, proved to be far more economically damaging than the studios had expected, shutting down more than 60 TV shows, hampering ratings and depriving the networks of tens of millions in advertising dollars." ... "Labor experts said the crippling effect of the strike helped writers achieve gains they might not have otherwise attained." ... "The new contract gives them residual payments for shows streamed over the Internet and secures the union's jurisdiction for programming created for the Web." ... "Writers were unsuccessful, however, in their efforts to shorten the 17-to-24-day window that studios have to stream their shows for promotional purposes without paying residuals. Many writers complained that most viewers watched repeats online within days after a program was initially broadcast." -By Claudia Eller and Richard Verrier -LAtimes

- China - Sudan - Sports - Politics - US - Entertainer - Human - Human Rights - Oil - Military
"China loses Spielberg over Darfur." ... "Scott Jagow:Steven Spielberg will have nothing to do with the Summer Olympics in Beijing [China]. Yesterday, Spielberg withdrew as an artistic advisor for the opening and closing ceremonies. The director says he can't be associated with China's policies toward an African nation in conflict." ... "Bill Marcus: China's a big oil customer of Sudan. China also supplies Sudan with weapons. That's why Spielberg says he quit. He said China should do more to help end the human suffering in Sudan's Darfur region." ... "Human rights activists say Spielberg's move sets a moral standard." -By Scott Jagow and Bill Marcus -Marketplace via -PublicRadio.org

- Food - Agriculture - History - Illinois - Minnesota
"Wheat Falls as Increased Global Planting May Boost Inventories." ... "Wheat futures for March delivery dropped 41 cents, or 3.9 percent, to $10.07 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade [Chicago, Illinois]. The contract reached a record $11.53 yesterday before closing down 45 cents, the first decline this month. Wheat fell 7.9 percent in the past two days, the biggest decline since Nov. 19, 2003." ... "On the Minneapolis Grain Exchange [Minneapolis, Minnesota], wheat for May delivery fell the exchange limit of 60 cents, or 4 percent, to $14.245 a bushel. The price rose 33 percent in January and almost tripled in the past year, partly because of a shortage of high-protein spring wheat." -By Tony C. Dreibus -Bloomberg

- Antonin Scalia - Torture - Terrorism - Intelligence - Politics - Los Angeles - California - US - Britain
"US Judge Scalia on 'So-Called Torture'." ... "[Republican President Ronald Reagan appointed] Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said that aggressive interrogation could be appropriate to learn where a bomb was hidden shortly before it was set to explode or to discover the plans or whereabouts of a terrorist group." ... ""It seems to me you have to say, as unlikely as that is, it would be absurd to say you couldn't, I don't know, stick something under the fingernail, smack him in the face. It would be absurd to say you couldn't do that," Scalia told British Broadcasting Radio Corp." ... ""I suppose it's the same thing about so-called torture," he said in the interview. "Is it really so easy to determine that smacking someone in the face to find out where he has hidden the bomb that is about to blow up Los Angeles [California] is prohibited by the Constitution?"" ... ""Is it obvious, that what can't be done for punishment can't be done to exact information that is crucial to the society? I think it's not at all an easy question, to tell you the truth."" ... "Scalia, a judicial icon among American conservatives, an acerbic wit and often abrasive personality, said Europeans had no business "smugly" decrying those techniques as torture." -By Raphael G. Satter -AP via -ChicagoTribune

- Sudan - Chad - Military - Politics - 
"New wave of Darfur refugees flee into Chad." ... "Fighting in the volatile Sudanese region of Darfur has sparked a another wave of refugees into Chad and left a Red Cross employee dead, according to international agencies." ... "The U.N. [United Nations] High Commissioner for Refugees said on Monday that more than 12,000 people have fled militia attacks over the last few days from Sudan's Darfur region to neighboring Chad, still recovering from a recent attempt by rebels there to topple the government." ... "Before the latest flight into Chad, the UNHCR and its partner groups "were taking care of 240,000 Sudanese refugees in 12 camps in eastern Chad and some 50,000 from Central African Republic in the south of the country." Up to 30,000 people in Chad fled the country for Cameroon during the rebel-government fighting." ... "The United Nations says "more than 200,000 people have been killed and 2.2 million others forced to flee their homes since fighting began in 2003 among government forces, rebel groups and allied militia groups known as the Janjaweed." -CNN

- Telecom - Amnesty - Corporate - Government - Spying - Intelligence - Politics - Investigation - Censorship - EMail - West Virginia - Nevada - Noteworthy
"Amnesty Day for Bush and lawbreaking telecoms." ... "The Senate today -- led by [West Virginia Democratic Senator] Jay Rockefeller, enabled by [Nevada Democratic Senator] Harry Reid, and with the active support of at least 12 (and probably more) Democrats, in conjunction with an as-always lockstep GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] caucus -- will vote to legalize warrantless spying on the telephone calls and emails of Americans, and will also provide full retroactive amnesty to lawbreaking telecoms, thus forever putting an end to any efforts to investigate and obtain a judicial ruling regarding the [Republican President] Bush administration's years-long illegal spying programs aimed at Americans. The long, hard efforts by AT&T, Verizon and their all-star, bipartisan cast of lobbyists to grease the wheels of the Senate -- led by former [Republican President] Bush 41 Attorney General William Barr and former [Democratic President] Clinton Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick -- are about to pay huge dividends, as such noble efforts invariably do with our political establishment." ... "It's worth taking a step back and recalling that all of this is the result of the December, 2005 story by the New York Times which first reported that the [Republican President] Bush administration was illegally spying on Americans for many years without warrants of any kind. All sorts of "controversy" erupted from that story. Democrats everywhere expressed dramatic, unbridled outrage, vowing that this would not stand. James Risen and Eric Lichtblau were awarded Pulitzer Prizes for exposing this serious lawbreaking. All sorts of Committees were formed, papers written, speeches given, conferences convened, and editorials published to denounce this extreme abuse of presidential power. This was illegality and corruption at the highest level of government, on the grandest scale, and of the most transparent strain." ... "What was the outcome of all of that sturm und drang? What were the consequences for the President for having broken the law so deliberately and transparently? Absolutely nothing. To the contrary, the Senate is about to enact a bill which has two simple purposes: (1) to render retroactively legal the President's illegal spying program by legalizing its crux: warrantless eavesdropping on Americans, and (2) to stifle forever the sole remaining avenue for finding out what the Government did and obtaining a judicial ruling as to its legality: namely, the lawsuits brought against the co-conspiring telecoms. In other words, the only steps taken by our political class upon exposure by the NYT of this profound lawbreaking is to endorse it all and then suppress any and all efforts to investigate it and subject it to the rule of law." ... "FDL has a petition, jointly sponsored by me, directed at House members, demanding that they reject this lawless, authoritarian Senate bill and defend their own, previously passed bill (the RESTORE Act). I encourage everyone to sign it. You can do so here." -By Glenn Greenwald -Salon

- Noteworthy - Secret - US - Iraq - Military - Government - Politics
"Army Buried Study Faulting Iraq Planning." ... "The Army is accustomed to protecting classified information. But when it comes to the planning for the Iraq war, even an unclassified assessment can acquire the status of a state secret." ... "That is what happened to a detailed study of the planning for postwar Iraq prepared for the Army by the RAND Corporation, a federally financed center that conducts research for the military." ... "After 18 months of research, RAND submitted a report in the summer of 2005 called “Rebuilding Iraq.” RAND researchers provided an unclassified version of the report along with a secret one, hoping that its publication would contribute to the public debate on how to prepare for future conflicts." ... "But the study’s wide-ranging critique of the [Republican President Bush] White House, the Defense Department and other government agencies was a concern for Army generals, and the Army has sought to keep the report under lock and key." ... "A review of the lengthy report — a draft of which was obtained by The New York Times — shows that it identified problems with nearly every organization that had a role in planning the war. That assessment parallels the verdicts of numerous former officials and independent analysts." ... "The study chided [Republican] President Bush — and by implication Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who served as national security adviser when the war was planned — as having failed to resolve differences among rival agencies. “Throughout the planning process, tensions between the Defense Department and the State Department were never mediated by the president or his staff,” it said." ... "The Defense Department led by Donald H. Rumsfeld was given the lead in overseeing the postwar period in Iraq despite its “lack of capacity for civilian reconstruction planning and execution.”" ... "The State Department led by Colin L. Powell produced a voluminous study on the future of Iraq that identified important issues but was of “uneven quality” and “did not constitute an actionable plan.”" ... "Gen. [General] Tommy R. Franks, whose Central Command oversaw the military operation in Iraq, had a “fundamental misunderstanding” of what the military needed to do to secure postwar Iraq, the study said." (1, 2) -By Michael R. Gordon -NYTimes

- Secret - Torture - Prisons - US - Guantanamo_Bay - Cuba - Military - Government - Terrorism - Psychology - Intelligence - Law - Enforcement - Politics
"FBI ‘Clean Team’ re-interrogated 9/11 suspects: Agency tried non-coercive techniques to protect case against six detainees." ... "The [Republican President] Bush administration announced yesterday that it intends to bring capital murder charges against half a dozen men allegedly linked to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, based partly on information the men disclosed to FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation] and military questioners without the use of coercive interrogation tactics." ... "The admissions made by the men -- who were given food whenever they were hungry as well as Starbucks coffee at the Defense Department's Guantanamo Bay prison [Guantanamo Bay, Cuba] -- played a key role in the government's decision to proceed with the prosecutions, military and law enforcement officials said." ... "FBI and military interrogators who began work with the suspects in late 2006 called themselves the "Clean Team," and set as their goal collecting of virtually the same information the CIA [Central Intelligence Agency] had obtained from five of the six through duress at secret prisons." ... "To ensure that the data would not be tainted by allegations of torture or illegal coercion, the FBI and military team won the suspects' trust over the past 16 months by using time-tested rapport-building techniques, the officials said." ... "The men were read rights similar to a standard U.S. [United States] Miranda warning, and officials designed the program to get to the information the CIA already had gleaned by waterboarding and other techniques such as sleep deprivation, forced standing and temperature extremes." ... "Robert M. Chesney, a Wake Forest University law professor who closely follows the tribunals process, said it would have been difficult, if not impossible, to use much of the information derived from CIA interrogations in military trials, in part because the Military Commissions Act of 2006 forbids evidence obtained through torture." ... "[John D. Hutson:] "There's something in American jurisprudence called 'fruit of the poisonous tree': You can clean up the tree a little but it's hard to do," said John D. Hutson, a retired Navy rear admiral and former judge advocate general. "Once you torture someone, it is hard to un-torture them. The general public is going to be concerned about the validity of the testimony."" (1, 2) -By Josh White, Dan Eggen, and Joby Warrick with contributions by Julie Tate -WashingtonPost via -MSNBC

- Military - Law - Terrorism - Government - Torture - History - Politics
"Attorney: 9/11 death penalty trial could create 'nightmare scenario'." ... "The trials planned for six suspects in the 9/11 attacks -- in which the government proposes to seek the death penalty -- could be unfair and could leave Khalid Shaikh Mohammed looking like a martyr to his supporters, a former U.S. [United States] Navy attorney said Monday." ... "In an interview with CNN, Swift said the Office of Military Commissions has no attorneys who are "death-penalty-qualified currently assigned."" ... "The military said Monday the detainees will have fair and adequate representation. In fact, "we are going to give them rights that are virtually identical to our military members," Air Force [Brigadier General ] Brig Gen. Thomas Hartmann said at a Pentagon news conference." ... "But Swift said the procedures, as planned, could bring about a "nightmare scenario" in which alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed -- the most prominent of the six detainees -- would be able to claim he had no fair trial in the United States, which could leave him looking like a martyr to his supporters." ... "Swift urged the military to change the plan, insisting the U.S. justice system can deliver a just verdict against an accused terrorist mastermind." ... ""Of course it can," he said." ... "There are also questions about whether testimony gathered through waterboarding would be considered as testimony, Swift said. The last legal precedent he could find for such a move, he said, was the Spanish Inquisition -- more than 500 years ago." -CNN

- Mike Huckabee - John McCain - Luke Esser - Washington_State - Arizona - 2008 Election
"Huckabee: Washington State vote like the Soviet Union." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Mike Huckabee continued to cry foul Monday over the results in Saturday’s Washington State GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] caucuses, saying the state party chairman's decision to call the race there early for [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] John McCain is reminiscent of elections in communist bloc nations." ... ""That is not what we do in American elections," Huckabee said on CNN's American Morning Monday. "Maybe that's how they used to conduct it in the old Soviet Union, but you don't just throw people's votes out and say, 'well, we're not going to bother counting them because we kind of think we know where this was going.'" ... "In a statement released Sunday, Huckabee's campaign said Washington's GOP Party Chairman Luke Esser called the race for McCain when Huckabee was only losing to the Arizona senator by 242 votes and over 1,500 votes remained to be counted." -By Alexander Mooney -CNN

- Mike Huckabee - John McCain - Luke Esser -Washington_State - Arizona - 2008 Election - Lawyers
"Huckabee disputes vote count." ... "The results of the state Republican caucuses were called into question Sunday after [2008 Election Republican] presidential candidate Mike Huckabee challenged the party's declaration that [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Senator from] Arizona Sen. John McCain had won the delegate count." ... "Huckabee's campaign took issue with Washington state Republican Party Chairman Luke Esser's decision to call the race Saturday night with 87 percent of the precincts counted." ... "At that point, McCain was ahead of Huckabee by 242 delegates out of the 13,000 counted, Esser said. The Huckabee campaign contends there were another 1,500 or so delegates not counted." ... "In a news release, Huckabee's campaign said there were "obvious irregularities" in the state's Republican caucuses and that it is sending lawyers to explore "all available legal options regarding the dubious final results."" ... ""This was an error in judgment by Mr. Esser," a Huckabee campaign release said. "Washington Republicans know, from bitter experience in the 2004 gubernatorial election, the terrible results that can come from bad ballot counting."" ... ""This clearly requires a full excavation as to what happened," [Huckabee campaign spokesman James P.] Pinkerton said. "The political impact of calling an election before all the votes are counted is pretty seismic. Chairman Esser should fully explain what happened and why to the satisfaction of all Washington state Republicans and all Republicans nationwide."" -By Janet I. Tu -SeattleTimes

- Mike Huckabee - John McCain - Luke Esser- Washington_State - 2008 Election - Lawyers
"Huckabee camp may fight caucus results: Supporters of the Republican candidate allege irregularities during the Washington state GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] caucuses Saturday." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Republican Mike Huckabee prepared Sunday for legal and political challenges to [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain's apparent victory in Washington's presidential caucuses." ... ""The Huckabee campaign is deeply disturbed by the obvious irregularities in the Washington State Republican precinct caucuses," Huckabee campaign chairman Ed Rollins said in a statement posted Sunday on the campaign's Web site." ... "Rollins did not specify what the irregularities were and said it was "an outrage" that GOP Chairman Luke Esser declared McCain the winner with just 87 percent of results in Saturday night." ... "At that time, McCain led Huckabee by 2 percent." ... "Rollins said Huckabee's lawyers "are prepared to go to court, and we are also prepared to take our case all the way to the Republican National Convention in September."" ... "[Huckabee's Washington State campaign leader Joe] Fuiten said some of the candidate's supporters complained they had not been allowed to express themselves and have their votes properly counted." ... "Kim Davis of Lakewood in Pierce County [Washington] outlined her experience in an e-mail that Fuiten sent to Esser and Huckabee's national campaign." ... "In an interview, Davis said she "absolutely" thought McCain supporters rigged voting in her precinct because she and a [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Ron Paul supporter were denied a chance to run to be delegates." ... ""They didn't follow the process. No one got to talk. No one got to vote," she said." ... ""I felt like what they did was wrong," she said. "If they could do that to us, I wondered how many other places could that have happened."" -By Jerry Cornfield -HeraldNet.com

- Luke Esser - Washington_State- Politician - History - 2008 Election
"Luke Esser’s tradition: “voter fraud, dirty tricks, and voting a straight Republican ticket”." ... "On this soggy [2008] Election Day let’s harken back to the sage advice of [former Washington State Republican Senator] state Sen. Luke Esser (R-Nervous), who wrote a column on this very same subject in the UW [University of Washington] Daily, way back on Nov. 3, 1986, the day before that year’s midterm election."

... "We all remember those great political traditions — whistle-stop tours, kissing babies, voter fraud, dirty tricks, and voting a straight Republican ticket." ... "Like any sport worth its salt, in politics you have adversaries, opponents, enemies. Our enemies are loudmouth leftists and shiftless deadbeats. To win the election, we have to keep as many of these people away from the polls as possible." ... "Now your average leftist loudmouth is a committed individual and can almost never be persuaded to ignore his constitutional rights. The deadbeats, however, are a different matter entirely. Years of interminable welfare checks and free government services have made these modern-day sloths even more lazy. They will vote on election day, if it isn’t much of a bother. But even the slightest inconvenience can keep them from the polling place." ... "Many of the most successful anti-deadbeat voter techniques (poll taxes, sound beatings, etc.) that conservatives have used in the past have been outlawed by busybody judges." ...
-By Luke Esser

- John McCain - Washington_State - Arizona - 2008 Election
"Confusion over county GOP caucus count raises questions." ... "There is a question tonight whether information from [Washington State's] Snohomish County Republican presidential caucuses was wrongly included in vote results in which [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain was declared the winner." ... "Snohomish County provided the presidential preferences of each person who signed in Saturday, not the choice of delegates selected during the caucuses as was intended, said party chairwoman Geri Modrell." ... "The delegate preference totals were not known Saturday night and only one-third had been calculated as of today, she said." -By Jerry Cornfield -HeraldNet.com

- Dick Cheney - Videos - Privacy - Politics - Colorado - US - Iraq - Military
"Cheney fights release of videos: The VP's [Vice President's] office worries depositions of two aides in a Golden [Colorado] man's civil lawsuit may show up on YouTube." ... "The office of [Republican] Vice President Dick Cheney is seeking to block the release of videotaped depositions given by two aides who witnessed a physical encounter between an Iraq war opponent and Cheney." ... "In a motion filed Saturday, Cheney's office contended that the videotapes could be used to invade the privacy and embarrass two aides called to testify about the encounter in a civil lawsuit. " -By David Olinger -DenverPost.com

- Mike Huckabee - John McCain - Ron Paul - Mitt Romney - Washington_State - Arizona - Arkansas - Texas - Massachusetts - 2008 Election
"Huckabee won't concede state; GOP resuming delegate count." ... "According to the Saturday tally [in Washington State], [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Senator from] Arizona Sen. John McCain won about 26 percent of delegates, [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and] former Arkansas Gov. [Governer] Huckabee won 24 percent, [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Representative from] Texas Rep. Ron Paul finished with 21 percent, and [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and] former Massachusetts Gov. [Governer] Mitt Romney, who has dropped out of the race, got 17 percent." ... "Pastor Joseph Fuiten of Bothell [Washington], who's heading Huckabee's volunteer effort in the state, said three Huckabee supporters in Pierce County [Washington] reported voting irregularities on Saturday." ... "Fuiten said one woman reported that she and a Ron Paul supporter were told that they wouldn't be allowed to run for alternative delegate positions — and that no actual vote was taken at the caucus. Instead, Fuiten said the woman reported that the caucus leaders simply tallied up the sign-in sheets to get the results." ... ""Counting is not so much the issue, so much as it is a concern about disenfranchisement," Fuiten said." ... "Paul's campaign is also not conceding the state." -By Janet I. Tu -SeattleTimes

- Mike Huckabee - John McCain - Washington_State - Arizona - 2008 Election - Law
"Huckabee protests Washington caucus results." ... "[2008 Election] Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee cried foul Sunday after [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain's apparent victory in the Washington state caucuses Saturday." ... "Huckabee's campaign released a statement saying that it will be exploring all available legal options regarding the "dubious final results." Arizona [Senator] Sen. McCain was announced as the victor in the caucuses. Sunday, he had 25 percent of the vote; Huckabee had 23.8 percent." ... "Huckabee's campaign chairman, Ed Rollins, said Luke Esser, Washington state's Republican Party chairman, chose to call the race too quickly for McCain." ... "Rollins said Huckabee was losing by 242 votes with 87 percent of the vote counted. He said there were 1,500 or so more votes that were apparently not counted." ... ""That is an outrage," Rollins said." ... "Rollins said the Huckabee campaign's lawyers will be on the ground in Washington soon to see why the count took so long, and why the vote-counting was stopped prematurely." ... ""It would be a disservice to every voter in Washington state to not pursue a full accounting of all votes cast," Rollins said. " -SeattlePI

- Mike Huckabee - John McCain - Ron Paul - Kansas - Minnesota - Texas - 2008 Election
"With Huckabees victory in Kansas, voters send McCain a message." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Mike Huckabee’s win Saturday in Kansas’ Republican presidential caucuses was complete, dominant and never in doubt." ... "In swamping presumptive GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican 2008 Election Presidential] nominee John McCain 11,627 to 4,587 votes, or 60 percent to 24 percent, Huckabee swept 104 of the state’s 105 counties. In that final county, Trego in western Kansas, Huckabee and McCain tied at 15 votes each." ... "The win gave Huckabee all 36 delegates that were on the line for the GOP National Convention in Minneapolis [Minnesota] this summer." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Texas Republican Representative] Rep. Ron Paul of Texas wound up with 2,182 votes, or 11 percent." (1, 2) -By Steve Kraske and Jim Sullinger -KansasCity.com

- Barack Obama - Hillary Clinton - John McCain - Mike Huckabee - Washington - Nebraska - Louisiana - Illinois - New York -Kansas - 2008 Election
"Obama wins big in Wash., Nebraska, La." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois Senator] Sen. Barack Obama swept the Louisiana primary and caucuses in Nebraska and Washington state Saturday, boosting his slim delegate lead over [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and New York Senator] Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in their historic race for the Democratic presidential nomination." ... "The Illinois senator also won caucuses in the Virgin Islands, completing his best night of the campaign." ... "The Democratic race moved into a new, post-Super Tuesday phase as [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain flunked his first ballot test since becoming the Republican nominee-in-waiting. He lost the Kansas caucuses to [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Mike Huckabee, gaining less than 24 percent of the vote." ... "Huckabee also was named by NBC News as the apparent winner of an extremely close Louisiana primary race." ... "His Kansas defeat aside, McCain also suffered a symbolic defeat when Romney edged him out in a straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference meeting across town from the White House." (1, 2) -AP -MSNBC

_2008 News News Reference February 2008 News
February 9, 2008 News URL: #February-9-2008-News
20080209 Saturday

- John McCain - Immigration - Finance - Legislation - Politics - Arizona- 2008 Election
"Wash. Post claimed McCain "diverged from conservatives" on immigration, taxes, without noting his flip-flops." ... "Summary: In an article on [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain's efforts "to rally conservatives to his candidacy," The Washington Post asserted that McCain "has diverged from conservatives on several issues, including campaign finance legislation, immigration policy and President Bush's tax cuts." But, unlike a previous Post article [#1, #2] that documented McCain's "flip-flops" on taxes and immigration, this one did not mention that McCain has changed his positions on those two issues to more closely align himself with the base of the Republican Party." -MediaMatters.org

- Food - Illinois - Minnesota - Kansas - US - Australia
"