« previous | MUCK HOME | next »
The Daily Muck
In the first 5 ½ years of the war on terror, the CIA filed not a single occurrence of legal violation to an independent oversight board, even while the FBI filed a few hundred potential violations. Still, filing with a group whose responsibility is to inform the President and Attorney General of potentially unlawful intelligence actions might not have mattered; the group’s board was vacant for the first two years of the administration. (Washington Post)
The new mandatory fashion in Baghdad’s Green Zone: flak vests and Kevlar helmets. Following a Saturday mortar attack on the Green Zone, McClatchy News obtained a copy of an internal memo issued by the American embassy in Baghdad that ordered Green Zone inhabitants to wear protective gear at all times. (McClatchy Newspapers)
An American employee of a Halliburton subsidiary pleaded guilty to receiving favors in exchange for awarding a Kuwaiti company millions in contracts. Roger Heaton worked for KBR, a former subsidiary of Halliburton, and reportedly received nearly $200,000 for awarding two major contracts. Heaton faces ten years in prison and a $250,000 fine. (New York Times)
The Department of Homeland Security has a turnover rate of senior officials twice that of the rest of the government. At it D.C. headquarters alone, over half of the presidential appointees and senior executives left between 2005 and 2006. (Washington Post)
The House Intelligence Committee refuses to release a report following an internal investigation into the panel’s involvement in the Rep. Duke Cunningham (R-CA) scandal. The investigation was completed last year but Republicans refused to make it public. Though Democrats are now in charge of the panel, the committee will still not make the findings available. (Los Angeles Times)
They grow up so fast. The National Archives released 78,000 pages from Nixon’s administration, and guess what was tucked in the set? A nine page note from 22-year-old aide Karl Rove, suggesting to the co-chairman of the Republican National Committee how to strengthen the party by leveraging young voters. (NY Times)
Democrats and watchdog groups are voicing frustration over Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) reticence to dissuade freshman Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) from blocking the passage of a popular ethics reform bill. DeMint vows to block conference talks on the bill until earmark reforms are passed. (The Hill)
Regulations are for those other lobbying groups. Compete, a lobbying coalition pushing for electricity deregulation, has failed to complete mandatory forms that must be completed for all tax-exempt groups. The coalition, which includes prominent companies such as Goldman Sachs and Wal-Mart, admitted it did not have its forms filled out when a Public Citizen member requested the forms through email. Compete is credited with reviving the deregulation movement after the fall of a great proponent and financier of the deregulation lobby—Enron. (The Politico)
Journalists who write frequently about Latin American drug cartels have a new fear: assassination attempts. (Chicago Tribune)
Comments (9)
Roberta wrote on July 16, 2007 10:50 AM:Re. Josh's TPM post about Bush's "success" in North Korea, remember that it was Bush who insisted that the established six-way talks were unproductive and that the only way to get North Korea to cooperate was with one-on-one talks with the US. Those other countries in SE Asia--you know, their neighbors?--shouldn't be allowed in talks. What business was it of theirs?
And what worked? Back to the six-way talks.
Someone, anyone, name me a Bush "success" that hasn't followed from his bungled attempts (he could do it better than Clinton, of course) that undid previous gains, only to have to go back to the way it had been done before and should have been done from the start.
Jake D. wrote on July 16, 2007 10:55 AM:Well, Roberta, the Chief Justice has worked out pretty darn good so far ; )
regular lurker wrote on July 16, 2007 11:18 AM:Bush has been an enormous success at getting anti-worker legislation passed and signed.
davis13 wrote on July 16, 2007 11:35 AM:Being the stand up guy he is, Bush has made sure the most vulnerable among us, the multi-millionaires and billionaires, are saved from hardships that might affect their meager earnings.
Jake D. wrote on July 16, 2007 11:48 AM:That's three successes right there. Here are a couple more: Partial Birth Abortion ban and no human embryos destroyed for research using federal funding. Let me know which of those Bush "successes" (that hasn't followed from his bungled attempts that undid previous gains, only to have to go back to the way it had been done before and should have been done from the start) you'd prefer to discuss first.
Seek Wisdom wrote on July 16, 2007 11:59 AM:Feed your soul, not your troll.
Click below to light a candle.
Jake D. wrote on July 16, 2007 12:32 PM:Fine with me -- it's not as if I'm going away -- please light candles in remembrance that Roberta's question has been answered several times over.
Aaron G. Stock wrote on July 16, 2007 1:24 PM:Congress can pass laws, and the executive branch can sign them but feels as though it is not bound to any particular passages, unless a judge declares that it is. A judge can declare that the executive branch is bound to follow the law (and not break it), but the executive branch feels as though it can ignore the ruling unless Congress passes a law.
It's a perfect circle.
Why do we need an independent legislature and an independent judiciary? I submit that we do not and that we abolish both of these irrelevant chambers.
Roberta wrote on July 16, 2007 5:44 PM:Well, my idea of success--something that benefits many people while not infringing upon others, makes the world safer and less contentious, and aligns with both the spirit and technical interpretation of the Constitution--is different from others', it seems.
For the sake of the US's karma, I'll stick with my idea.