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___.COMPOSITION______In This Issue_______________________________
The New Yorker Tiptoes Around the Stolen Election
Hill On The Hill: So Far, So Good
Rightwing Dan Burton Caught in Truth-Telling Episode On The Hill!
Bush May Use Recess Appointments to Install Iran-Contra Propagandist Otto Reich and
Fat Tony's Spawn
How George Bu$h Became Master of the Universe in just 365 Days
Bush To Sign Education Bill; Jim Jeffords (I-Spine) Speaks Out
Bush 'Compassion'? Bush Will Not Back New Marshall Plan to Reduce International Poverty
What A Coincidence?
Advance Knowledge of 9/11 Attacks? Follow The 100-Million Dollar Money Trail...
Making Operation Chaos Legal? The USA Patriot Act Grants The CIA New Domestic
Surveillance Powers
Another Orwellian Horror Story: FBI Pays Visit To Average American For Simply Voicing
His Opinions At A Local Gym
Patriot Law May Be Used In UConn Anthrax Case
Unmasked: The Depravity Within
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__The New Yorker Tiptoes Around the Stolen Election
In The New Yorker's "Talk of the Town" column, Hendrik Hertzberg writes: "There is no
longer any doubt that more Florida voters intended to vote for Gore than for Bush:
according to the Times, some eight thousand Gore overvotes, net, were lost because of
bad design (the notorious "butterfly" of Palm Beach) or confusing instructions (the
two-page Duval County "caterpillar" ballot, which directed voters to "vote all
pages"). But those votes were irredeemably spoiled, and the consortium did not
consider them. In terms of those votes that were arguably valid, Florida— still—is too
close to call." Sorry, Hendrik, but Al Gore won. Yes, the Electoral College should be
abolished, but those responsible for stealing the Presidency - including the Supreme
Court 5 - should be held accountable.
http://www.newyorker.com/THE_TALK_OF_THE_TOWN/CONTENT/?011224ta_talk_hertzberg
__Hill On The Hill: So Far, So Good
Catch the New York Post in an infrequent moment of truth-telling! Read it quickly,
read it now! Even Republican senators are praising Hillary Clinton's year on the Hill,
according to the New York Post. "Republicans, including avowed opponents of her
husband, former President Bill Clinton, also credit Hillary with a solid start in the
Senate. 'We obviously disagree most of the time,' said Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho).
'But she's had a successful year. It appears that she knows her job and does it
well.'" The article further notes, "Her worksheet over the past 12 months shows
winning a passage of amendments on President [sic] Bush's education legislation that
would recruit and retain more teachers and principals. She also wisely climbed aboard
a successful campaign-finance bill and won changes to a bankruptcy bill and
determinedly killed the Bu$h appointment of Mary Sheila Gall to run the Consumer
Product Safety Commission." http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/36766.htm
__ Rightwing Dan Burton Caught in Truth-Telling Episode On The Hill!
When you have an ultra-right member of the House calling Resident Bush "dictator" and
"king," in the words of Jerry Seinfeld, this can't be good. Conservative Indiana
Republican, Dan Burton, lashed out at Carl Thorsen, a deputy assistant attorney
general who was attempting to introduce a superior who was testifying on Thursday:
"We've got a dictatorial president [sic] and a Justice Department that does not want
Congress involved. ...Your guy's acting like he's king." Burton was referring to
Bu$h's claims made Wednesday of "executive privilege," a moot point since nary a
business leader or politician would ever bestow the title of "executive" on GWBu$h.
Democrats are poised to resist the oncoming Constitutional crises.
http://seattlep-i.nwsource.com/national/50583_privilege14.shtml
__Bush May Use Recess Appointments to Install Iran-Contra Propagandist Otto Reich and
Fat Tony's Spawn
"The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Bush has not made a final
decision but is likely to issue recess appointments if the Senate doesn't act. [Otto]
Reich, a former Reagan administration official, is the president's choice to be
secretary of Western Hemisphere affairs. Scalia, son of the conservative Supreme Court
justice, would be the Labor Department's top lawyer. The Democrats' concerns over
Reich focus on his lobbying activities as well as his leadership of the State
Department's one-time Office of Public Diplomacy for Latin America and the Caribbean.
The office - which Reich led from its inception in June 1983 until January 1986 - was
accused of running an illegal, covert domestic propaganda effort against Nicaragua's
Sandinista government and in favor of the Contra rebels." Senate Majority Leader Tom
Daschle has said that there are not enough votes to confirm Scalia.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/htx/ap/20011217/pl/bush_nominations_1.html
__How George Bu$h Became Master of the Universe in just 365 Days
"A year ago he was the accidental-some say illegitimate- president. Today he is beyond
criticism. Matthew Engel on 12 months of 'Dubya:' A year ago today everything crumbled
away. On December 13 2000, Vice-President Gore, the nation's popular choice by more
than half a million votes, conceded the election to George Bush in response to the
Supreme Court's 5-4 vote to stop the recounts in Florida...Presidents need to be lucky
in their enemies, though, as well as skilful in choosing their friends. Margaret
Thatcher was blessed by General Galtieri and Arthur Scargill. In Osama bin Laden, Bush
has a target who offers him glorious simplicity..." Caveat: Bu$h and his team are
given more credit than they are due here, but this article illuminates why Bu$h
enthused to Mitch Daniels shortly after 9/11 that he had "hit the trifecta."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,617706,00.html
__Bush To Sign Education Bill; Jim Jeffords (I-Spine) Speaks Out
Bush is expected to sign an education bill that has passed both Houses. "Since its
introduction last winter, the bill has enjoyed bipartisan support. But a few
lawmakers, including Sen. James Jeffords, I-Vt., have complained that the $26.5
billion plan falls short by not giving enough money to schools, especially for costly
programs to help disabled students. Jeffords, who headed the Senate's education
committee until he left the Republican Party last May, said the shortcomings make the
bill embarrassing. 'I believe it is better to approve no bill rather than to approve a
bad bill,' Jeffords said…The bill is also opposed by school board and superintendents'
groups, who say state and local education budgets will be strained by its demands." So
the bill will underfund schools, and then test for failures. If they fail, they will
either be restaffed, or perhaps this will open the door for vouchers or charter
schools. http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAPIOW0EVC.html
__Bush 'Compassion'? Bush Will Not Back New Marshall Plan to Reduce International
Poverty
"An official in British Prime Minister Tony Blair's government failed to win the
backing of the Bush administration in an effort to launch a new Marshall Plan to help
the world's poorest nations. Gordon Brown, Britain's chancellor of the exchequer,
discussed the proposal in a meeting Monday with Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill in
O'Neill's office... Brown wants rich countries including the United States and Britain
to double the aid they give the world's poor nations to $100 billion annually as part
of an effort to cut world poverty in half by 2015...Brown's effort is intended to
address the growing gap between wealthy and poor countries, a disparity that many feel
is fueling political tensions and terrorism." No way is the Bush gang going to sign on
to this. They need those bucks to give to their Defense Industry backers for a Missile
Defense system that won't work.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/htx/ap/20011217/pl/brown_o_neill_1.html
__What A Coincidence?
>From a Buzzflash editorial: "After a several day public relations buildup, the Bush
>administration released an incriminating videotape of Osama bin Laden today. Why did
>they go through a clearly strategic delay in letting the public see the tape?
>BuzzFlash believes that the timing of the release was calculated to minimize coverage
>of two other announcements on Thursday: Bush formally stated that he will pull out of
>the ABM treaty, and he also claimed executive privilege on information sought
>Congress. By creating a heightened curiosity about the video, the Karl Rove PR
>machine followed the classic Hollywood publicity technique of building up excitement
>for a movie to draw record crowds to the opening night."
>http://www.buzzflash.com/editorial/2001/12/121301_What_A_Coincidence.html
__Advance Knowledge of 9/11 Attacks? Follow The 100-Million Dollar Money Trail...
German computer investigators are "working round the clock to unlock the truth behind
an unexplained surge in financial transactions made just before two hijacked planes
crashed into New York's World Trade Center on September 11. Were criminals responsible
for the sharp rise in credit card transactions that moved through some computer
systems at the WTC shortly before the planes hit the twin towers? Or was it
coincidence that unusually large sums of money, perhaps more than $100 million, were
rushed through the computers as the disaster unfolded?" According to Richard Wagner, a
data retrieval expert at German-based firm Convar, "'There is a suspicion that some
people had advance knowledge of the approximate time of the plane crashes in order to
move out amounts exceeding $100 million. They thought that the records of their
transactions could not be traced after the main frames were destroyed.'"
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/reuters20011217_18.html
__Making Operation Chaos Legal? The USA Patriot Act Grants The CIA New Domestic
Surveillance Powers
"The Central Intelligence Agency is poised to get involved in domestic surveillance
and investigations in ways that are unprecedented in its history…But as the nation
girds itself against global terrorism carried out on American soil, the barriers
between covert, stealthy intelligence and by-the-book domestic law enforcement
investigations are beginning to melt. Suddenly, for instance, the CIA will now have
access to testimony collected by federal grand juries. And the CIA, FBI, and other
federal agencies are, for the first time, being allowed to share vast amounts of
information ranging from phone records and credit cards statements to profiles of
suspected terrorists...What really worries critics is the CIA's past history of
domestic operations. In the 1960s and '70s, for instance, Operation CHAOS included CIA
involvement in spying on US citizens including antiwar protesters, black militant
groups and even congressmen." http://www.csmonitor.com/2001/1217/p2s1-usgn.html
__Another Orwellian Horror Story: FBI Pays Visit To Average American For Simply
Voicing His Opinions At A Local Gym
"As it turns out, the list of 5,000 is a much smaller subset of an even larger group
of people being interviewed. From Sept. 11 to November alone, the FBI received more
than 435,000 tips. And, as Reingold found out, you don't have to be Arab or Muslim to
get nominated for a house call...Lucas Gutentag of the National ACLU's Immigrant
Rights Project believes most people aren't concerned about what's going on with
internal security in this nation because they're under the impression that the FBI is
targeting and profiling mainly noncitizens. 'It camouflages the full effects of the
[Justice Department's] policies because [citizens] don't feel directly affected,'
Gutentag said. 'But the principles the government is relying on result in the same
kind of practices against everyone.' If you don't think it can happen to you in
America, just ask Barry Reingold, an average American with a strong opinion." So
writes the SF Chronicle's Emil Guillermo.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2001/12/18/eguillermo.DTL
__Patriot Law May Be Used In UConn Anthrax Case
"A federal grand jury in New Haven is weighing whether to invoke, for the first time,
a part of a new anti-terrorism law to charge a University of Connecticut graduate
student who stashed two vials of anthrax in his personal freezer [?!?] at a school
laboratory...The sources said federal authorities have been investigating whether to
charge 26-year-old Tomas Foral of West Hartford with possession of anthrax, which is a
crime, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, under the USA Patriot Act signed into
law on Oct. 26." Instead of grabbing some Ben and Jerry's
StrawberrysNaturalAllFudgedUp ice cream for a midnight snack, you grab ...anthrax? OK,
certain aspects of the law may be required, but the entire retinue of fascist new
regulations? NOT! http://ctnow.com/hc-anthrax1213.artdec13.story
__Unmasked: The Depravity Within
While taxpayers tossed $68 million to investigate Bill Clinton's sex-life, the
Rethuglican mayor of Waterbury, CT, Philip A. Giordano, was busy molesting children,
sans media inquiries or Ken Starr. Currently, Giordano sits behind bars for molesting
children, while still receiving half-salary from the city of Waterbury: a Faustian
deal arranged by the city that was accepted to avoid the cost of litigation! Yes,
hypocrisy runs deep; where are the "Condit-style Freeps" for Philip Giordano?
"...Giordano's carousing was actually a perverse obsession with sex and a spiraling
affinity for Waterbury's surreal street culture of hookers and hard drugs. Less than
two years later [2001], the mayor would be charged with the most heinous of crimes -
the repeated rape of the 9- and 11-year-old daughters of two drug-addicted
prostitutes. One of the child victims is the older half-sister of a boy Giordano is
accused of fathering in 1993."
http://ctnow.com/news/politics/hc-giordano3dec16.story?coll=hc%2Dheadlines%2Dhome
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