by Frank James
A quick guided tour of some of the morning's most important or interesting (or both) Washington-related stories.
President Bush has talked more frequently with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuru al-Maliki in recent months than he has with any other foreign leader but with scarce progress towards the U.S. goal of an Iraqi political reconciliation.
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was lambasted by Democratic and Republican senators alike who accused him of flirting with perjury as he answered questions about the warrantless wiretap program, including his controversial visit to the hospital bedside of his predecessor John Ashcroft which he made to get the sick man to override a decision by senior Justice Department officials.
President Bush once again linked 9/11 to Iraq by arguing that terrorists belonging to al Qaeda in Iraq were part of the same al Qaeda organization behind the 2001 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.
The Bush Administration has sought a relationship with the Syrian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, the hard-line Islamist group which has inspired numerous Islamic extremists, as the U.S. has tried to pressure on Syrian President Bashir Assad.
U.S. Airports have been warned about possible dry runs by terrorists practicing potential attacks by carrying into airports and airplanes seemingly harmless objects like pipes, wires and dense, clay-like substances such as cheese.
A Taliban leader who was once held at Guantanamo Bay and after his release became one of Pakistan's most-wanted men because of kidnappings and attacks he organized died in a raid in that country, the Pakistan government said.
Experts questioned the Bush Administration's approach towards combating al Qaeda in Pakistan, saying the strategy of backing renewed Pakistani army attacks against extremists and of threatening direct U.S. attacks, may backfire by increasing support for al Qaeda.
Countrywide Financial, the nation's largest mortgage lender, said the mortgage crisis is extending to borrowers with previously good credit and that home prices are falling nationwide to a degree not seen since the great depression.
Rudy Giuliani asked voters to focus on his accomplishments and not the spate of negative portrayals of him by those who know him, which he called "psychobabble."
The Federal Bureau of Investigation wants telephone and Internet companies to hold onto customer data for at least two years in case it's needed for counterterrorism probes and asked Congress for $5 million annually so the FBI could pay the companies.
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Comments
With Bush in the running for highest percentage of voters disapproving of his presidency, all we hear from visitors to the White House is that he is serene, cheerful and convinced that he is in the right in the war in Iraq and that history (and God)
are on his side. And the Republicans? They are such warmongers that they would rather see Hillary run the war than get out of Iraq.
Bush delusional? It's irrelevant. The fact is, it's working. The surge is on in Iraq, and it is crystal clear that we are going to stay there to the tune of $10 billion a month until January, 2009. If there are any troop withdrawals, they will be
so small as to be unnoticeable, although Bush will trumpet them loudly.
The Republicans, meanwhile,
seem paralyzed. Top candidates Giuliani, McCain and Romney all support the war. They are virtually proclaiming that they will continue Bush's policies into the next four or eight years. Occasionally they throw a bone out re the sins of Donald Rumsfeld, but basically, all of them would prefer to lose the Presidency than back off on the war. So Bush is right about his Party too. They are warmongers and are willing to lose the Presidency over a third world country in the Middle East. They'd rather see Hillary run the war, in other words. Incredible.
Posted by: Helena | July 25, 2007 9:45 AM
A story headlining many newspapers, but so far not reported in the "Swamp":
the governor of New York, Democrat Eliot Spitzer, has been cited by his own Attorney General, Democrat Andrew Cuomo, for illegally using his top aides in a plot to smear New York's Senate leader, Republican Joseph Bruno.
An attack on civil liberties by the nation's most prominent Democrat governor, as verified by a fellow Democrat. A governor who is and will be a key player in the 2008 Democratic residential campaign. And the "Swamp" spikes the story.
Can you imagine the play this story would get if a Republican governor of a major state was similarly charged?
Posted by: Bruce | July 25, 2007 10:30 AM
Can you imagine the play this story would get if a Republican governor of a major state was similarly charged?
Posted by: Bruce | July 25, 2007 10:30 AM
I'm watching the play Bushco's assault on the Constitution is getting. Apparently, there are really people who are above the law.
Posted by: Catherine | July 25, 2007 11:00 AM
What about this Alberto Gonzalez commiting perjury?? This man is a pathological liar and a total disgrace to the DOJ and the rule of law. Why hasn't this received and more publicity?? Gonzalez should be arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Posted by: Doug R. | July 25, 2007 11:15 AM
[quote]
the governor of New York, Democrat Eliot Spitzer, has been cited by his own Attorney General, Democrat Andrew Cuomo, for illegally using his top aides in a plot to smear New York's Senate leader, Republican Joseph Bruno.
An attack on civil liberties by the nation's most prominent Democrat governor, as verified by a fellow Democrat.
Posted by: Bruce | July 25, 2007 10:30 AM
[/quote]
Bruce, please post some links to these stories so that we can all see how Spitzer "illegally used his aides" and "attacked civil liberties".
Posted by: BC | July 25, 2007 11:49 AM
Can you imagine the play this story would get if a Republican governor of a major state was similarly charged?
Posted by: Bruce | July 25, 2007 10:30 AM
I'm sure that everyone here will be absolutely shocked to find out that Bruce has told another lie.
Spitzer has NOT been charged, nor was any illegal act found.
"The report found no criminal wrongdoing but reprimanded the governor's office for using state police under false pretenses to track down records of when Bruno used taxpayer-funded helicopters on trips for both state and political business."
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN2441543220070724
Posted by: Tony | July 25, 2007 12:32 PM
Helena is right. The neo-con project is working. In fact the Bush administration is victorious. They wanted a permanent U.S. presence in Iraq and a government there subservient to the U.S.A. They have both. It may be unproductive now to concentrate on blaming the Democrats who didn't oppose the invasion strenuously enough from the very beginning. That would only weaken their strongest presidential candidate. Here again the administration has come out on top.Their opponents have only scored, late in the game, in opinion polls.
Posted by: Peter Byrne | July 25, 2007 12:34 PM
That little bertie gonzo is still the Attorney General after all these crimes have been publicly exposed is, in and of itself, PROOF that the cheneybush regime is a shameless, fascist, criminal organization with absolutely no morals. No matter how much they thump their evangelical bibles at the world.
Posted by: snalg | July 25, 2007 12:38 PM
RNC Bruce,
How about that!?
An attorney general who enforces the law no matter who's on the receiving end. Doesn't it make you proud of Patrick Fitzgerald?
Posted by: Doug Zook | July 25, 2007 1:06 PM