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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Road Walker who wrote (279660)	3/11/2006 8:35:00 AM
From: combjelly	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1586540

Where do they get these guys? A former domestic policy adviser to President Bush has been charged with theft for allegedly receiving phony refunds at department stores. Claude Alexander Allen, 45, was arrested Thursday by Montgomery County police for allegedly claiming refunds for more than $5,000 worth of merchandise he did not buy, according to county and federal authorities. Allen was the No. 2 official in the Health and Human Services Department when Bush nominated him in April 2003 to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va. Bush nominated to the court again a year later, but Allen never received a Senate vote. During his confirmation hearing, Allen was questioned about his use of the word "queer" when he was a press aide to Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., in 1984. Allen said he didn't intend it as a slur against gay people. In early 2005, Bush hired Allen as a domestic policy adviser. He resigned abruptly on Feb. 9, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family. more at abcnews.go.com Ok, let's get this straight. He was the No. 2 official in the Health and Human Services Department, then nominated as a federal judge, and when that fell through, was appointed as a domestic policy advisor. In addition, he coordinated the Whitehouse's early response to Katrina. And, apparently, to help ends meet he also shoplifted... These are the moral, straight arrows that get appointmented by this administration? Nice that he resigned a month ago. That way the media can report "former domestic policy advisor", and the talking heads can imply that he was under Clinton and left when the "adults" gained power...

To: Road Walker who wrote (279660)	3/11/2006 8:54:31 AM
From: Alighieri	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1586540

"I'm concerned about a broader message this issue could send to our friends and allies around the world, particularly in the Middle East," he said. When did he start being concerned about what our allies and friends think? Al

To: Road Walker who wrote (279660)	3/13/2006 2:33:45 AM
From: tejek	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1586540

Feingold to call for rare presidential censure Sunday, March 12, 2006; Posted: 8:12 p.m. EST (01:12 GMT) WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A top Democratic senator said Sunday he plans to introduce Monday a resolution calling for President Bush to be censured for his domestic wiretapping program. Sen. Russ Feingold, a potential presidential candidate, told ABC's "This Week" Sunday that the resolution would not preempt discussions about changing a 1978 law governing a special court set up to approve wiretaps. "It's an unusual step," he said. "It's a big step, but what the president did by consciously and intentionally violating the Constitution and laws of this country with this illegal wiretapping has to be answered. "There can be debate about whether the law should be changed. There can be debate about how best to fight terrorism. We all believe that there should be wiretapping in appropriate cases -- but the idea that the president can just make up a law, in violation of his oath of office, has to be answered." Feingold, a member of the Senate Judiciary and Intelligence committees, said he is doubtful any Republican senators will join him in trying to reprimand the president. Only one president, Andrew Jackson, has ever been censured. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, also speaking on ABC, said Feingold "is just wrong." "He is flat wrong, he is dead wrong," said the Tennessee Republican -- also a potential presidential candidate in 2008 -- adding that "attacking our commander in chief ... doesn't make sense." "We are right now at an unprecedented war where they really want to take us down," he said. "A censure resolution ... is wrong. It sends a signal around the world. "The American people are solidly behind this president in conducting the war on terror." Sen. John Warner, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, noted Feingold's presidential aspirations, and criticized his move as "political grandstanding." The Republican from Virginia noted that, since 1978, when the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act was passed restricting covert surveillance, technology has changed dramatically. "Presidents must act instantaneously in the security interests of this country," he said. Bush authorized the National Security Agency shortly after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to eavesdrop on Americans suspected of communicating with al Qaeda members overseas -- without obtaining a warrant from the FISA court. The administration has said the program is lawful, and although initially a number of Republicans were critical, most have moved on to "fixing the law," in Feingold's words, to erase any question of its legality. On Tuesday, four Senate Republicans proposed a bill to provide what one called "very rigorous oversight" of the program while also giving it the force of law. Sens. Mike DeWine of Ohio, Olympia Snowe of Maine, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, all members of the Intelligence Committee, introduced the bill late Tuesday afternoon in an effort to address criticism of the program and reach a compromise. Feingold said revising the law isn't enough. "What I'm interested in is my colleagues acknowledging that we as a Congress have to stand up to a president who acts as if the Bill of Rights and the Constitution were repealed on September 11," he said. "We didn't enact martial law on September 11. We still have a constitutional form of government, and if the Congress of the United States does not stand up for that authority at this point, it will be an historic failure of our system of government." Sen. Carl Levin, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he believes Bush's program is wrong but said he would rather wait for the investigation by the Intelligence Committee to be completed. But Levin, of Michigan, backed Feingold's right to harsh words for Bush. "I think criticism of the president is legitimate," he said cnn.com

To: Road Walker who wrote (279660)	3/13/2006 2:53:52 AM
From: tejek	Respond to of 1586540

SAS soldier quits Army in disgust at 'illegal' American tactics in Iraq By Sean Rayment, Defence Correspondent (Filed: 12/03/2006) An SAS soldier has refused to fight in Iraq and has left the Army over the "illegal" tactics of United States troops and the policies of coalition forces. After three months in Baghdad, Ben Griffin told his commander that he was no longer prepared to fight alongside American forces. Ben Griffin told commanders that he thought the Iraq war was illegal He said he had witnessed "dozens of illegal acts" by US troops, claiming they viewed all Iraqis as "untermenschen" - the Nazi term for races regarded as sub-human. The decision marks the first time an SAS soldier has refused to go into combat and quit the Army on moral grounds. It immediately brought to an end Mr Griffin's exemplary, eight-year career in which he also served with the Parachute Regiment, taking part in operations in Northern Ireland, Macedonia and Afghanistan. But it will also embarrass the Government and have a potentially profound impact on cases of other soldiers who have refused to fight. On Wednesday, the pre-trial hearing will begin into the court martial of Flt Lt Malcolm Kendall-Smith, a Royal Air Force doctor who has refused to return to Iraq for a third tour of duty on the grounds that the war is illegal. Mr Griffin's allegations came as the Foreign Office minister Kim Howells, visiting Basra yesterday, admitted that Iraq was now "a mess". r Griffin, 28, who spent two years with the SAS, said the American military's "gung-ho and trigger happy mentality" and tactics had completely undermined any chance of winning the hearts and minds of the Iraqi population. He added that many innocent civilians were arrested in night-time raids and interrogated by American soldiers, imprisoned in the notorious Abu Ghraib prison, or handed over to the Iraqi authorities and "most probably" tortured. Mr Griffin eventually told SAS commanders at Hereford that he could not take part in a war which he regarded as "illegal". He added that he now believed that the Prime Minister and the Government had repeatedly "lied" over the war's conduct. "I did not join the British Army to conduct American foreign policy," he said. He expected to be labelled a coward and to face a court martial and imprisonment after making what "the most difficult decision of my life" last March. Instead, he was discharged with a testimonial describing him as a "balanced, honest, loyal and determined individual who possesses the strength of character to have the courage of his convictions". Last night Patrick Mercer, the shadow minister for homeland security, said: "Trooper Griffin is a highly experienced soldier. This makes his decision particularly disturbing and his views and opinions must be listened to by the Government." The MoD declined to comment. telegraph.co.uk