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The Daily Muck
We've written about Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour's (R) impressive talent for securing federal Katrina aid funds. That might come from his former role as RNC chairman. But it might also have to do with the fact that he still receives monthly checks from Barbour Griffith & Rogers Inc., the lobbyist firm he helped to start. Haley says all the money coming is part of a pension; others say it's generally good practice to disclose these things. (Bloomberg)
The only officer prosecuted in the Abu Ghraib scandal was acquitted on all three abuse charges, though he was found guilty on one count of disobeying a direct order in connection with the investigation. (The Boston Globe)
The federal government is shifting its investigation of Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) to Kay LiCausi, his former chief of staff. Menendez had been accused of having conflicts of interests with some of his legislation, but now the concern is that LiCausi (who moved right from Congress to be a lobbyist) might be the source of the conflict. (NY Times)
The GOP leadership is seeking an investigation into Sen. Larry Craig's (R-ID) bathroom imbroglio. Meanwhile, CREW is curious why Republicans are willing to bring an investigation against Craig but were unwilling to do so against Rep. Vitter (R-LA).
It's the economy, stupid. Afghanistan's opium production continues to skyrocket; in the past two years, nationwide production of the plant has doubled. (AFP)
The Department of Defense has decided to send a team of auditors to Iraq to help deal with the growing number of "contracting improprieties" involving weapons and military gear both there and in Afghanistan. And all it took was a missing $19 billlion. (USA TODAY)
Michael Chertoff is a poor choice for a replacement Attorney General. So says Nicholas Katzenbach, the former Attorney General for Lyndon B. Johnson. It doesn't bode well for a Chertoff nomination when he's already lost the LBJ vote. (PoliticsNJ.com)
Comments (12)
Peter Duffy wrote on August 29, 2007 10:13 AM:Obviously Larry Craig is not one of the Senate GOP(Grand Old Pals) with McConnell and Lott leading the charge to sanction him. Nothing like the sight of the GOP Rightuous gunning(!) for a lapsed member
Peter Duffy wrote on August 29, 2007 10:14 AM:Obviously Larry Craig is not one of the Senate GOP(Grand Old Pals) with McConnell and Lott leading the charge to sanction him. Nothing like the sight of the GOP Rightuous gunning(!) for a lapsed member
DJ wrote on August 29, 2007 10:54 AM:In the GOP: illegal procurement of heterosexual sex with prostitutes is okay. Attempted procurement of consensual homosexual acts with random people (albeit in public places-which is still illegal) well that just can't happen!
bob wrote on August 29, 2007 11:05 AM:Lobbyists usually don't have pensions -- that sounds fishy.
roller wrote on August 29, 2007 11:45 AM:My, oh my, how that quartet (Ashcroft, Lott, Craig, et al) must be wondering what else besides eagles soar?
theswan wrote on August 29, 2007 11:48 AM:When the jurors in the military trial of the Lt. Col. at Abu Ghraib happen to be peers of brass (Cols. and Generals) the outcome is a done deal.
theswan wrote on August 29, 2007 11:49 AM:It would never be the brass but the enlisted who pay a price for bad decisions. Ask the likes of GWB.
When the jurors in the military trial of the Lt. Col. at Abu Ghraib happen to be peers of brass (Cols. and Generals) the outcome is a done deal.
blogenfreude wrote on August 29, 2007 12:20 PM:It would never be the brass but the enlisted who pay a price for bad decisions. Ask the likes of GWB.
No Vitter investigation because he'd be replaced by a Dem. QED
Roberta wrote on August 29, 2007 1:12 PM:Wanna know about Abu Ghraib from the enlisted man's point of view? Check out the documentary "Soldiers of Conscience" (not yet in general release but shown at a number of film festivals) to learn how two men, one assigned to Abu Ghraib and the other to Al Assad, were so profoundly affected by the situation that they sought out Conscientious Objector status, no matter what the personal cost.
Aidan Delgado, an Army reservist, applied for CO status and served out his entire tour in Iraq, suffering taunts, abuse, and humiliation from his fellow soldiers. They considered him a traitor.
Sgt. Camilo Mejia went AWOL on leave, after serving at Al Assad and witnessing the abuse of detainees there, applied for a CO discharge, and served time in a military prison after a court martial.
And when Mejia reported the abuse he'd witnessed, as part of his CO application, no investigation was pursued until the Abu Ghraib scandal was revealed.
So are the officers ever going to take responsibility for prisoner and detainee abuse in Iraq? That would require having a conscience.
Frankie Says Impeach wrote on August 29, 2007 4:34 PM:“I am not gay,” he said twice. “I love my wife.”
Larry Craig is bisexual?
Helen Rainier wrote on August 29, 2007 4:39 PM:Regarding Barbour, Griffith & Rogers -- besides Haley Barbour being one of the founders, so is Ed Rogers the smarmy "Republicon" talking head who has appeared on several MSNBC news shows as a pundit.
mouthofthesouth wrote on August 29, 2007 8:23 PM:i have seen little to nothing about the connecton between haley barbour and jack abramoff-i live in the louisiana community that broke the indian casino,ralph reed,abramoff barbour connection-yet,to this day the msm has yet to connect the lobbying and casino gaming dots...why not?