Thursday, October 28, 2004
Hold Bush Accountable
Hold Bush Accountable Piece
SCENE 1
January 20, 2001
George W. Bush
George W. Bush takes oath of office "preserve, protect, and defend"
Source:
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/pihtml/pioaths.html
SCENE 2
Richard Clarke
January 25, 2001
President's Chief of Terrorism,
Richard Clarke,
"urgently" requests a meeting "to deal with
the impending al Qaeda attack."
Context:
"There's a lot of blame to go around, and I probably deserve some blame, too. But on January 24th, 2001, I wrote a memo to Condoleezza Rice asking for, urgently -- underlined urgently -- a Cabinet-level meeting to deal with the impending al Qaeda attack. And that urgent memo-- wasn't acted on."
CBS 60 minutes interview 03/21/04
Source:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/03/19/60minutes/main607356.shtml
Dissent:
Credibility?
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/03/25/terror/main608588.shtml
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,115085,00.html
Rebuttal:
Credible.
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20040405.html
http://slate.msn.com/id/2097685/
SCENE 3
July 5, 2001
John Ashcroft
CIA briefs John Ashcroft on "imminent" terrorist attack.
Source: 9-11 Commission Report 8.1 The Summer of Threat
http://911.gnu-designs.com/Chapter_8.html
Dissent:
This briefing addressed threats outside the United States. 9-11 Commission Report 8.1 The Summer of Threat
Rebuttal:
Though this specific briefing did not specify domestic targets, during the same time period, June and July, Ashcroft was made aware that while many of these initial threats related to overseas, US targets could not be ruled out.
9-11 Commission staff statement #10
"Pickard said in late June and through July he met with Attorney General Ashcroft once a week. He told us that although he initially briefed the Attorney General regarding these threats, after two such briefings the Attorney General told him he did not want to hear this information anymore. The Justice Department has informed us that Attorney General Ashcroft, his former deputy, and his chief of staff deny that the Attorney General made any such statement to Pickard.
Ashcroft told us that he asked Pickard whether there was intelligence about attacks in the United States. Pickard said he replied that he could not assure Ashcroft that there would be no attacks in the United States, although the reports of threats were related to overseas targets. Ashcroft said he therefore assumed that the FBI was doing what it needed to do. He acknowledged that, in retrospect, this was a dangerous assumption.
Prior to 9/11 neither Ashcroft nor his predecessors received a copy of the President's Daily Brief. After 9/11 Ashcroft began to receive portions of the brief that relate to counterterrorism."
9-11 Commission staff statement #10
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4731182/
Of note as well, Ashcroft had discontinued the use of commercial aircraft for business related travel early in 2001 due to a FBI threat assessment.
http://www.septembereleventh.org/newsarchive/2004-04-16-ashcroft.php
Scene 4:
George Tenet
CIA Director later testifies,"the system was blinking red."
Context: Late in July many in the CIA were increasingly alarmed by the increased threat level. Though some in the administration, Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, still had doubts.
"Tenet told us that in his world "the system was blinking red." By late July, Tenet said, it could not "get any worse."30 Not everyone was convinced. Some asked whether all these threats might just be deception. On June 30, the SEIB contained an article titled "Bin Ladin Threats Are Real." Yet Hadley told Tenet in July that Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz questioned the reporting."
9-11 Commission Report 8.1 The Summer of Threat
Source:
Source: 9-11 Commission Report 8.1 The Summer of Threat
http://911.gnu-designs.com/Chapter_8.html
Scene 5:
August 6, Memo
"Bin Ladin Determined to Strike in US." is given to the President.
Source: 9-11 Commission Report 8.1 The Summer of Threat
http://911.gnu-designs.com/Chapter_8.html
Context:
"Reflecting on these questions, the CIA decided to write a briefing article summarizing its understanding of this danger. Two CIA analysts involved in preparing this briefing article believed it represented an opportunity to communicate their view that the threat of a Bin Ladin attack in the United States remained both current and serious.35 The result was an article in the August 6 Presidential Daily Brief titled "Bin Ladin Determined to Strike in US." It was the 36th PDB item briefed so far that year that related to Bin Ladin or al Qaeda, and the first devoted to the possibility of an attack in the United States."
9-11 Commission Report 8.1 The Summer of Threat
Scene 6:
Meetings Called: 0
Action taken: none
Source:9-11 Commission Report 8.1 The Summer of Threat
http://911.gnu-designs.com/Chapter_8.html
SCENE 6
John Ashcroft
September 10, 2001
Ashcroft rejects FBI request for $53,900,000 to fund counter-terrorism.
Source:
http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=39039
Dissent:
Ashcroft testimony:
http://www.nationalreview.com/document/ashcroft200404131644.asp
Rebuttal:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/04/15/opinion/main612043.shtml
SCENE 7
President Bush in Classroom in Florida September 11, 2001.
"The President was seated in a classroom when, at 9:05, Andrew Card whispered to him: "A second plane hit the second tower. America is under attack. . ." The President remained in the classroom for another five to seven minutes, while the children continued reading."
9-11 Commission Report, pp. 38-39
SCENE 1
January 20, 2001
George W. Bush
George W. Bush takes oath of office "preserve, protect, and defend"
Source:
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/pihtml/pioaths.html
SCENE 2
Richard Clarke
January 25, 2001
President's Chief of Terrorism,
Richard Clarke,
"urgently" requests a meeting "to deal with
the impending al Qaeda attack."
Context:
"There's a lot of blame to go around, and I probably deserve some blame, too. But on January 24th, 2001, I wrote a memo to Condoleezza Rice asking for, urgently -- underlined urgently -- a Cabinet-level meeting to deal with the impending al Qaeda attack. And that urgent memo-- wasn't acted on."
CBS 60 minutes interview 03/21/04
Source:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/03/19/60minutes/main607356.shtml
Dissent:
Credibility?
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/03/25/terror/main608588.shtml
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,115085,00.html
Rebuttal:
Credible.
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20040405.html
http://slate.msn.com/id/2097685/
SCENE 3
July 5, 2001
John Ashcroft
CIA briefs John Ashcroft on "imminent" terrorist attack.
Source: 9-11 Commission Report 8.1 The Summer of Threat
http://911.gnu-designs.com/Chapter_8.html
Dissent:
This briefing addressed threats outside the United States. 9-11 Commission Report 8.1 The Summer of Threat
Rebuttal:
Though this specific briefing did not specify domestic targets, during the same time period, June and July, Ashcroft was made aware that while many of these initial threats related to overseas, US targets could not be ruled out.
9-11 Commission staff statement #10
"Pickard said in late June and through July he met with Attorney General Ashcroft once a week. He told us that although he initially briefed the Attorney General regarding these threats, after two such briefings the Attorney General told him he did not want to hear this information anymore. The Justice Department has informed us that Attorney General Ashcroft, his former deputy, and his chief of staff deny that the Attorney General made any such statement to Pickard.
Ashcroft told us that he asked Pickard whether there was intelligence about attacks in the United States. Pickard said he replied that he could not assure Ashcroft that there would be no attacks in the United States, although the reports of threats were related to overseas targets. Ashcroft said he therefore assumed that the FBI was doing what it needed to do. He acknowledged that, in retrospect, this was a dangerous assumption.
Prior to 9/11 neither Ashcroft nor his predecessors received a copy of the President's Daily Brief. After 9/11 Ashcroft began to receive portions of the brief that relate to counterterrorism."
9-11 Commission staff statement #10
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4731182/
Of note as well, Ashcroft had discontinued the use of commercial aircraft for business related travel early in 2001 due to a FBI threat assessment.
http://www.septembereleventh.org/newsarchive/2004-04-16-ashcroft.php
Scene 4:
George Tenet
CIA Director later testifies,"the system was blinking red."
Context: Late in July many in the CIA were increasingly alarmed by the increased threat level. Though some in the administration, Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, still had doubts.
"Tenet told us that in his world "the system was blinking red." By late July, Tenet said, it could not "get any worse."30 Not everyone was convinced. Some asked whether all these threats might just be deception. On June 30, the SEIB contained an article titled "Bin Ladin Threats Are Real." Yet Hadley told Tenet in July that Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz questioned the reporting."
9-11 Commission Report 8.1 The Summer of Threat
Source:
Source: 9-11 Commission Report 8.1 The Summer of Threat
http://911.gnu-designs.com/Chapter_8.html
Scene 5:
August 6, Memo
"Bin Ladin Determined to Strike in US." is given to the President.
Source: 9-11 Commission Report 8.1 The Summer of Threat
http://911.gnu-designs.com/Chapter_8.html
Context:
"Reflecting on these questions, the CIA decided to write a briefing article summarizing its understanding of this danger. Two CIA analysts involved in preparing this briefing article believed it represented an opportunity to communicate their view that the threat of a Bin Ladin attack in the United States remained both current and serious.35 The result was an article in the August 6 Presidential Daily Brief titled "Bin Ladin Determined to Strike in US." It was the 36th PDB item briefed so far that year that related to Bin Ladin or al Qaeda, and the first devoted to the possibility of an attack in the United States."
9-11 Commission Report 8.1 The Summer of Threat
Scene 6:
Meetings Called: 0
Action taken: none
Source:9-11 Commission Report 8.1 The Summer of Threat
http://911.gnu-designs.com/Chapter_8.html
SCENE 6
John Ashcroft
September 10, 2001
Ashcroft rejects FBI request for $53,900,000 to fund counter-terrorism.
Source:
http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=39039
Dissent:
Ashcroft testimony:
http://www.nationalreview.com/document/ashcroft200404131644.asp
Rebuttal:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/04/15/opinion/main612043.shtml
SCENE 7
President Bush in Classroom in Florida September 11, 2001.
"The President was seated in a classroom when, at 9:05, Andrew Card whispered to him: "A second plane hit the second tower. America is under attack. . ." The President remained in the classroom for another five to seven minutes, while the children continued reading."
9-11 Commission Report, pp. 38-39
Saturday, October 16, 2004
Why We Should Bother
In response to the question: Why should we bother when it is obvious that the
Republicans are determined to do whatever they can to win this election including
lying,cheating and stealing (i.e. Florida 2000,Nevada Registration scandal,ect.)
Of the 129,549,000 registered voters in 2000, 110,826,000 actually showed
up to vote. That leaves 18,723,000 that were registered but that did not
bother to vote. Oddly enough, of those registered non-voters, registered
democrats generally outnumbered registered republicans two to one. (that's
66% registered democrats) That comes out to be 12,357,180 registered
democrats who did not feel that there was any reason for them to vote in
the 2000 election, an election that was resolved by less that 400 votes in
Florida.
By some estimates the republicans were successful in physically
disenfranchising some 1 million votes in the last election. If just half of
those registered dems who didn't vote in 2000 actually get off their butts
and vote this time, the republicans will need to figure out how to
disenfranchise another 6,178,590 votes this time around. A tall order in an
election were many of the highly contested polling places in swing states
will be monitored by at least one of the three volunteer nonpartisan poll
monitor agencies that have sprung up in the last year, that include a host
of volunteer lawyers & computer scientist. Not to mention the Democratic
National Committee, who emboldened by record donations of $100 dollars or
less to their coffers have been able to saturate swing states with teams of
legal support should voting discrepancies arise.
Don't give up yet, there is definitely a reason to bother with this
election!
The Republican National Committee:
Hiring security guards to pose as police and immigration officials at
polling areas in poor neighborhoods
to ward off potential democratic voters:
$2,000,000
Contracting an organization sadistically called "Voters Outreach of
America" to register thousands of democrats and
then throw their registration forms away:
$1,500,000
Disheartening and demoralizing the democratic base with your dirty tricks
and rigged polls* that showPresident Bush winning, so that 12,357,180
registered democrats don't bother to vote
PRICELESS
(sorry for the damn mastercard parody, but it had to be done by somebody)
* http://www.guardian.co.uk/uselections2004/story/0,13918,1309994,00.html
Source:
http://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/p20-542.pdf
Links,
Voluteer to watch a Polling place (more volunteers are still needed):
Common Cause:
http://www.commoncause.org/site/pp.asp?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=200690)
Election Protection:
http://www.electionprotection2004.org/
Help remind and encourage people to vote:
DNC:
http://65.54.184.250/cgi-bin/linkrd
Move On:
http://www.moveon.org/keepmeposted/volunteer.html
Thanks,
Tuesday, September 14, 2004
Introduction to Hold Bush Accountable Blog
This blog is dedicated to exploring ways in which President George W. Bush, his current administration and the other members of the Republican Party*, in so much as they effectively hold a current majority in Congress and stand behind Bush's policies, can and should be held accountable for their numerous errors including but not exclusive to the following:
_negligent attention to terrorism pre-9/11
_the cynical misuse and abuse of national fear & goodwill to promote and pass the Patriot Act legislation which censures many civil liberties but fails to deliver any significant measurable results in protecting our nation from real internationally based terrorist attacks or plots
_the use of exaggerated and outright false intelligence to justify the war in Iraq
_the illegal outing of an undercover CIA operative in retaliation to dissent within the CIA
_a promotion of policies that questioned the relevance of the Geneva Conventions in the war in Iraq and that subsequently set the stage for a raft of violations involving torture and mistreatment that have dishonored our brave men in uniform as well our national image
At the same time this site is dedicated to explore and inform the responsibilities of Bush's opponent in this campaign.
That responsibility, is in my opinion, to voice these criticisms and point out these failures in a succinct way that will capture the political debate, not merely respond to the cynical, misleading, censured and dead-end talking points prescribed by the Bush administration.
Please share other ideas for topics or comment on those listed above.
*other congressional supporters of Bush's policies including Democrats, Independents and other party or non-party affiliated Senators or Representative also should not escape the onus of Bush's policy failures in so much as they supported these specific policies
_negligent attention to terrorism pre-9/11
_the cynical misuse and abuse of national fear & goodwill to promote and pass the Patriot Act legislation which censures many civil liberties but fails to deliver any significant measurable results in protecting our nation from real internationally based terrorist attacks or plots
_the use of exaggerated and outright false intelligence to justify the war in Iraq
_the illegal outing of an undercover CIA operative in retaliation to dissent within the CIA
_a promotion of policies that questioned the relevance of the Geneva Conventions in the war in Iraq and that subsequently set the stage for a raft of violations involving torture and mistreatment that have dishonored our brave men in uniform as well our national image
At the same time this site is dedicated to explore and inform the responsibilities of Bush's opponent in this campaign.
That responsibility, is in my opinion, to voice these criticisms and point out these failures in a succinct way that will capture the political debate, not merely respond to the cynical, misleading, censured and dead-end talking points prescribed by the Bush administration.
Please share other ideas for topics or comment on those listed above.
*other congressional supporters of Bush's policies including Democrats, Independents and other party or non-party affiliated Senators or Representative also should not escape the onus of Bush's policy failures in so much as they supported these specific policies
