J's Cafe Nette

Archive for July 31st, 2007

Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman had an interview with The Hill and discussed some of the problems facing this Congress, especially as it pertains to the war in Iraq.

Lieberman is a strong supporter of the war in Iraq and says we should also keep our eyes on Iran.

It seems Independence has set him free to vote his conscience and not a party.

Ever since Connecticut Democrats refused to back him for a fourth term in Congress, Joe Lieberman has been burnishing his independent credentials in the narrowly divided Senate while becoming increasingly critical of the Democratic Party on the war in Iraq.

Lieberman, the Democrats’ 2000 vice presidential nominee, insists he is not actively considering joining the Republican Party. But he is keeping that possibility wide open as his disenchantment grows with Democratic leaders. The main sticking points are their attempts to end the war in Iraq and their hesitation to take a harder line against Iran.

“I think either [Democrats] are, in my opinion, respectfully, naïve in thinking we can somehow defeat this enemy with talk, or they’re simply hesitant to use American power, including military power,” Lieberman said in a wide-ranging interview with The Hill.

“There is a very strong group within the party that I think doesn’t take the threat of Islamist terrorism seriously enough.”

Lieberman says he is annoyed by the mudslinging on Capitol Hill and Democrats’ unwillingness to work with President Bush. But his critics say he has contributed to that polarization by his rhetoric and refusal to compel Bush to find a new way forward in Iraq.

As Lieberman sees it, however, the Democratic Party has slipped away from its “most important and successful times” of the middle of last century, where it was tough on Communism and progressive on domestic policy.

“I fear that some people take this position also because anything President Bush is for, they’ll be against, and that’s wrong,” said Lieberman, a staunch advocate of the war. “There’s a great tradition in our history of partisanship generally receding when it comes to foreign policy. But for the moment we’ve lost that.”

I know many Democrats feel he is a turncoat because he chose to defend his Senate seat from Ned Lamont as an Independent and won the general election.

As one lady in pink put it:

“He used to have a heart and soul, and he used to care about people,” said Leslie Angeline, an activist with the anti-war group Code Pink, who held a 24-day hunger strike until she could meet with Lieberman about his position on Iran.
Angeline is facing an unlawful entry charge after she refused to leave Lieberman’s office during her strike.

To which I would say he’s the same man now he was two years ago. I felt he betrayed his principles when he ran for Vice President, but one has to do what the top of the ticket wants one to do in that situation.

He was once called the “conscience of the Senate” and is no way a flaming conservative, despite the fact the Democratic party actually kicked him out and he didn’t leave voluntarily.

The voters in his state knew they had a good senator and had the good sense to keep him in office.

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Can tou beleive this guy? Self-preservation is a strong instinct.

Republican Sen. Ted Stevens, whose home back in Alaska was raided by federal investigators Monday in a wide-ranging corruption investigation, has threatened to place a hold on the Democratic-drafted ethics legislation just passed by the House and expected on the Senate floor by week’s end.

The senator told a closed session of fellow Republicans today, including Vice President Dick Cheney, that he was upset that the measure would interfere with his travel to and from Alaska – and vowed to block it.

Story

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Tell me this isn’t crazy. Sounds like they’re doing the American peoples work. Yeah Right!
Well, I guess you could say they learned from the best.

House Democratic leaders are intent on sidetracking bipartisan attempts to change course in Iraq at least until fall, officials said Tuesday, rather than allow nervous Republicans to vote for legislation that lacks a troop withdrawal deadline.

Several lawmakers and aides said the goal was to deny members of the GOP rank and file a chance to proclaim their independence from President Bush by voting for a limited measure - after months of backing his policy in an increasingly unpopular war.

Story

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I guess the Democrats aren’t wasting any time.

Former Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., appears to have flip flopped on his pledge to sign federal legislation replacing all federal taxes with a 23 percent sales tax, according to an unedited FairTax.org video reviewed by ABC News.

“He has not taken this pledge,” Thompson spokesperson Linda Rozett told ABC News.

The Thompson camp’s denial appears to be contradicted, however, by an unedited FairTax.org video in which Thompson is asked, “Senator, if the House and Senate pass the ‘Fair Tax’ bill do you feel right now that you would sign it?”

Thompson replies to the question by saying, “Yeah, absolutely.”

“Fred Thompson may have spoken without thinking. But the tape is accurate,” said FairTax.org spokesman Ken Hoagland.

The Democratic National Committee seized on the all-but-announced candidate’s apparent contradiction with his own staff, questioning whether the actor turned politician is qualified for the role of commander-in-chief.

“Fumbling Fred Thompson’s flip flop on the ‘Fair Tax’ issue shows once again that his presidential campaign is just not ready for prime-time,” said DNC spokeswoman Amaya Smith. “Next time Thompson should make sure that he’s on the same script as his advisors before changing his position on an issue.”

Story

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Michael Yon has another of his fine dispatches up telling of what’s going on in Baqubah.

Right now Michael is in Singapore getting some much-needed rest.

In the first of two parts he tells of some of the things going on in Baqubah. The first quote is something from the Al Qaeda Islamic State. Propaganda. Michael quotes their statement and in the brackets and bold tells the truth as he witnessed it:

“The strongest kinds of explosives are awaiting them on the streets and in the allies(sic). [This was true: we lost a soldier to an IED. But our guys caught most of the bombs, in many cases when local Iraqis pointed them out. Others that remain hidden will be neutralized by our engineer and EOD teams in a thorough, methodical process that will continue until the city is cleared.] Snipers of the Islamic State of Iraq are going ahead hunting down dozens of soldiers. They are in control of the high-rise buildings [They were until our guys killed them], and ambushes and traps are awaiting them everywhere. [This was true: there were ambushes and traps everywhere. But our guys killed them, ran them off, or foiled the ambushes in nearly ever case. We did lose one Stryker and one Bradley.] The American Army, in spite of its numbers and equipment, could not penetrate the region except for a couple of minutes to film so as to sell the photographs to the lying media. [The penetration was persistent and pervasive and eventually complete, something captured on film by dozens of reporters who finally embedded for the initial days of the operation. A minor point: the military’s own photographs and videos are always available free of charge to media agencies.] It is during those few minutes that a great number of airplanes were downed. [Completely false.] We are announcing this good news to the nation as the soldiers of the Islamic State of Iraq are basking in their victory in all parts of this and the rest of the provinces [It would be dangerous for al Qaeda to celebrate here in Baqubah, or in Anbar, or up in Mosul, or down in Basra, or in Sadr City. In fact, they are running out of places to peek out from, let alone bask in.], while the Crusaders will not escape this fierce battle but with slit throats and a defeat, the likes of which has never been witnessed.” [There are many American soldiers on FOB Warhorse in Baqubah. They’ve extended their invitation for al Qaeda to come visit.]
4-2 SBCT Daily Intsum

Al Qaeda is using the lack of food as a weapon against the civilians in this area, figuring if they are hungry they will re-join them.

Michael Yon tells how the food was obtained by Americans and Iraqis: Read the rest of this entry »

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What is going on? Seems like even the Republicans are giving more money to Democrats.

July 31 (Bloomberg) — Lawyers at Kirkland & Ellis, the law firm that’s home to Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr and Bush administration official Jay Lefkowitz, have given more to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign than to all of the top Republican candidates combined.
Kirkland, based in Chicago, is one of several corporate law firms that traditionally backed Republicans where lawyers are turning to Democratic candidates. Lawyers say the change is largely due to disenchantment with the Republican Party’s social policies and the war in Iraq.

“The Iraq war has a very significant pull on people, but it’s not just limited to that,” said Kirk Radke, a New York partner at Kirkland who is fundraising for Clinton. “There’s the need for a better posture within the international community.”

Large U.S. firms such as Jones Day and Sidley Austin, which donated more to President George W. Bush in 2000 than to Democratic candidate Al Gore, are giving thousands more to Democratic hopefuls than Republicans. Top Wall Street investment banks and hedge funds are also giving more to Democrats.

Clinton, a New York senator, and Barack Obama, an Illinois senator, are benefiting the most from the largest law firms, according to the Center for Responsive Politics in Washington, a nonprofit organization that tracks political contributions. Five of Clinton’s 10 largest donor groups are from law firms.

`Conventional Wisdom’

“Firms want to be on the good side of who they think is going to be the incumbent, whether or not that person is good for business,” said Bruce MacEwen, a nonpartisan New York legal consultant. “The conventional wisdom is that the Democrats are going to win the White House.”

Even at Jones Day, the 2,167-lawyer firm that represents the Republican National Committee, attorneys have given 3 1/2 times as much to the three Democratic frontrunners, including $131,333 to Obama. The Cleveland-based firm’s lawyers donated more than twice as much to Bush than to Gore in 2000 and slightly more to Bush in 2004.

Overall, lawyers in and out of large firms have given $18.27 million to Democrats Clinton, Obama and John Edwards, compared with $5.75 million to Republicans Rudy Giuliani, John McCain and Mitt Romney. Edwards, a former senator from North Carolina and a trial lawyer, leads the pack, backed mainly by attorneys who sue on behalf of shareholders and individuals.

The donations of big firm lawyers mirror those of the largest Wall Street investment bankers who have also backed Democrats this year. Employees at the top 10 Wall Street investment banks gave more than $1.4 million to Democrats and a little more than $900,000 to Republicans, according to Federal Election Commission filings.

`Hometown Favoritism’

Republicans such as Lefkowitz say part of the imbalance is due to the lack of a clear frontrunner among the GOP candidates.

“There’s a lot of enthusiasm now on the Democratic side,” said Lefkowitz, who is serving as Bush’s special envoy for human rights in North Korea. “There’s a healthy race between Clinton and Obama and that’s exciting a lot of people. In firms that have big offices in cities like New York and Chicago, you’re going to see some hometown favoritism.”

Kirkland, whose clients include Boeing Co. and Apple Inc., has given $194,601 to the top three Democrats compared with $84,750 to Giuliani, McCain and Romney. Lawyers at the firm gave 28 percent more to Bush than Gore in 2000 and 34 percent more to Bush than to Democratic candidate John Kerry in 2004.
Law Firm Donations

Read the rest of this entry »

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In a land where human life has no meaning the Taliban has executed a second South Korean, who had gone into Afghanistan as part of a church group to help the people of Afghanistan. The Taliban has promised to kill more if their deadlines for concessions are not met.

GHAZNI, Afghanistan (AP) — Police discovered the body of a second South Korean hostage in central Afghanistan, and the Taliban threatened Tuesday to kill more captives if their demands were not met by a new deadline.

South Korea pleaded with the international community to set aside the normal practice of refusing to cave into hostage-takers’ demands, urging a peaceful resolution to the standoff. Relatives of some of the 21 remaining hostages appealed for U.S. help in freeing their loved ones.

South Korea ”is well aware of how the international community deals with these kinds of abduction cases,” said a statement from the president’s office. ”But it also believes that it would be worthwhile to use flexibility in the cause of saving the precious lives of those still in captivity and is appealing (to) the international community to do so.”

The comments came after Afghan officials found the body of Shim Sung-min, 29, a former information technology worker who was volunteering with the South Korean church group on an aid mission to Afghanistan.

He was killed Monday after two deadlines given by the Taliban demanding the release of insurgent prisoners passed with no action. Last week, the church group’s leader, Pastor Bae Hyung-kyu, was fatally shot in unclear circumstances.

They were killed for being Christian volunteers in a country that has a segment of its population that wants no help for their people. They especially want no help from Christians.

These people truly died for Jesus. May their families find peace knowing their loved ones are now reaping the rewards they earned on earth.

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Ahmed Belbacha, an inmate at Guantanamo from Algeria, would rather stay at Gitmo in solitary confinement than return to his native country where the authorities or Islamists will torture or kill him.

An inmate of Guantanamo Bay who spends 22 hours each day in an isolation cell is fighting for the right to stay in the notorious internment camp.

Ahmed Belbacha fears that he will be tortured or killed if the United States goes ahead with plans to return him to his native Algeria.

The Times has learnt that Mr Belbacha, who lived in Britain for three years, has filed an emergency motion at the US Court of Appeals in Washington DC asking for his transfer out of Guantanamo to be halted. He was cleared for release from Camp Delta in February and his lawyers believe that his return to Algerian custody is imminent.

Mr Belbacha says that if he returns to Algeria, he faces the threat of torture by security services and murder by Islamist terrorists.

Zachary Katznelson, senior counsel with the human rights lawyers Reprieve and Mr Belbacha’s lawyer, has asked the US courts to block any transfer. “Ahmed is being held in camp six, the harshest part of Guantanamo,” he said. “His cell is all steel, there are no windows, he is not allowed to communicate with other prisoners and he gets just two hours exercise each day in a metal cage.

“He says his cell in Guantanamo is like a grave and that although it sounds crazy he would rather stay in those conditions than go back to Algeria. The fact is that he is really, really scared about what might happen to him in Algeria.”

I guess Gitmo isn’t as bad as some other places.

Story.

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It’s official now. The Iraqi Parliament has adjourned until Sept. 4 without passing legislation that would address the benchmarks Congress has set for us to keep our troops in their country.

I’ve been reading for several days they’ve been having a problem with even getting a quorum of 100 people present and yesterday the Speaker called the recess without a quorum present.

They are set to come back just 11 days before Gen. Petraeus is to give his report to Congress, and it might have gone over a bit better with some members if the parliament had worked and tried to pass legislation dealing with the political problems in that country.

Iraq’s parliament yesterday shrugged off U.S. criticism and adjourned for a month, as key lawmakers declared there is no point waiting any longer for the prime minister to deliver Washington-demanded benchmark legislation for their vote.

Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani closed the final three-hour session without a quorum present and declared lawmakers will not reconvene until Sept. 4.

That date is just 11 days before the top U.S. military and political officials in Iraq must report to Congress on U.S. progress in taming violence and organizing conditions for sectarian reconciliation.

The recess, coupled with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s failure to get the key draft laws before legislators, may nourish growing opposition to the war among U.S. lawmakers, who could refuse to continue to fund it.

Critics questioned how Iraqi legislators can take a summer break while U.S. forces are fighting and dying to create conditions under which important laws could be passed toward ending sectarian political divisions and bloodshed.

But in leaving parliament, many lawmakers blamed Mr. al-Maliki.

“Even if we sit next month, there’s no guarantee that important business will be done,” said Mahmoud Othman, a prominent Kurdish legislator. The parliament extended its session by a month, having initially planned a recess for July and August.

I guess it’s not much different from our Congress, now that I think of it. They haven’t done anything either and are preparing to take the month of August off.

It must be written in stone somewhere that taking legislative holidays is a right earned by being elected to make your country better.

Of course, with all the griping that’s been coming out of our Congress this year about the Iraq war I can’t really blame the Iraqis for leaving in the heat of summer with air conditioning probably being sporadic at best. They know what Congress intends to do even if they pass all the bills our Congress wants them to pass.

It’s too bad our troops have to work in all that heat, but I don’t hear them complaining.

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Thanks to the Washington Post, far from a Republican newspaper, there is a list. Go read.

Here’s a sample:

Party Voting Totals
92.7% Democratic (233 members)

84.2% Republican (202 members)

88.7% All Members (435 members)

100% – Charlie Norwood (R-GA) DEAD as of Feb. 07
100% – Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
99.7% – Nita Lowey (D-NY)
99.4% – Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-CA)
99.1% – Carolyn Maloney (D-NY)
98.9% – Xavier Bacerra (D-CA)
98.7% – Diana DeGetter (D-CO)
98.6% – Gary Ackerman (D-NY)
98.6% – Hilda Solis (D-CA)
98.6% – Ellen Tauscher (D-CA)
98.6% – Al Wynn (D-MD)

This is not the complete list so go read it all.

Hat Tip: Captain Ed <):)

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It is becoming clear that we have very few honest politicians left in Washington. These power and money hungry individuals have themselves so entrenched in their part time jobs as legislators that it seems the only way to remove some of them is through investigations by the FBI, IRS and local authorities.

While I believe all are innocent until proven guilty this story from Fox News once again shows there is at least the appearance of corruption in Congress.

FBI and Internal Revenue Service agents searched the home of U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens on Monday.

Stevens, who was formerly chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, is the latest lawmaker reportedly under investigation for exchanging federal contracts for bribes, illegal gratuities and unreported gifts. The Stevens probe relates to dealings with VECO Corp., Alaska’s largest oil-field engineering firm. VECO has several federal contracts to provide logistics support for arctic research.

Perhaps what we should demand is that anyone desiring to run for office lay open all of their financial dealings once a year beginning with their entrance in to any race, local, state or federal. Show the public, on line or otherwise where your interests truly lie. I am not asking for just a tax return, all transactions which could give the appearance of impropriety or show complete honesty would be required.

Then write into law that anyone, no matter the position found in violation of the laws not only of the office they serve, but those of the United States, will be immediately removed and a special election (not an appointment by a Governor) will ensue.

I know, this is just a pipe dream. The same inidivduals of which I speak would be the ones to write legislation which would be signed into law. It would also eliminate many of the lobbyists and special interest groups on which the politics in this country thrives. So, nah, this would never, ever work..and besides even if it did happen, there would be loopholes and end arounds and we ordinary folk would continue to be duped by those in “power”.

I do not mean to imply that every politician in this country is unscrupulous. There are those who have served honorably. The problem is, the longer in power, the better the chances you will owe someone or they will owe you. Once that cycle begins, the taxpayer has no way of maintaining an account of every deal made and every payback accepted.

Earmarks are simple to slide past the noses of even those who carefully track this information and when they are uncovered or disclosed, it is too late.

When was the last time anyone heard of this money being returned to the till in Washington? That’s what I thought.

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