Rockefeller And Senate Leadership Are Traitors To The Constitution And Country

Senate Democrats have decided to sell out their country and Constitution by collaborating with George Bush and Republican leadership to allow wholesale privacy invasions in violation of the Fourth Amendment and to grant blanket immunity to telcom companies for their participation in the illegal and unconstitutional domestic surveillance programs of the Bush Administration. In terms of honoring and upholding the Constitutional principles this country was founded upon, and grounded in ever since, there arguably has never been a lower and more pathetic time in our history. Fresh off the Washington Post:

Senate Democrats and Republicans reached agreement with the Bush administration yesterday on the terms of new legislation to control the federal government's domestic surveillance program, which includes a highly controversial grant of legal immunity to telecommunications companies that have assisted the program, according to congressional sources.

Disclosure of the deal followed a decision by House Democratic leaders to pull a competing version of the measure from the floor because they lacked the votes to prevail over Republican opponents and GOP parliamentary maneuvers.

The collapse marked the first time since Democrats took control of the chamber that a major bill was withdrawn from consideration before a scheduled vote. It was a victory for President Bush, whose aides lobbied heavily against the Democrats' bill, and an embarrassment for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who had pushed for the measure's passage.

The draft Senate bill has the support of the intelligence committee's chairman, John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.), and Bush's director of national intelligence, Mike McConnell. It will include full immunity for those companies that can demonstrate to a court that they acted pursuant to a legal directive in helping the government with surveillance in the United States.

Such a demonstration, which the bill says could be made in secret, would wipe out a series of pending lawsuits alleging violations of privacy rights by telecommunications companies that provided telephone records, summaries of e-mail traffic and other information to the government after Sept. 11, 2001, without receiving court warrants. Bush had repeatedly threatened to veto any legislation that lacked this provision.

The Fourth Amendment has been under attack by the authoritarian Republicans and their insidious hatchet groups like the Federalist Society for over twenty five years now. It began with the characterization of hideous and substantive Fourth Amendment violations of fundamental search and seizure law under the Fourth Amendment as "mere technicalities". Soon conservative authoritarian politicians andprosecutors started shading their duties and principles under the law to find creative ways around Constitutional protections in order to further their oppressive and often racially tinged agenda. Then the authoritarians proudly proclaimed how they had protected the "law and order for the citizens" by "clamping down on criminals" and "elimianting the criminal's use of technicalities". The more they talked the talk, the more they belligerently walked the walk.

The sad result over time is the situation we now find ourselves in where the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution be damned, the government and justice system is to be used as just another partisan tool for monitoring and controlling the citizenry. The Last Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales, dismissively branded the Geneva Conventions as "quaint" and inconsequential. George Bush has belligerently said of the Constitution that "it's just a damn piece of paper". The Executive Branch acts, and thinks, like Article II of the Constitution (the one delineating and defining the Executive Branch) is the only portion that exists or matters. This is what happens when political goals of the few in power trump adherence to the due process principles of the system.

Well, today, the evisceration of the Fourth Amendment is just about complete.  If the terms of this agreement that Rockefeller and Democratic leadership have entered into with Bush and the Republicans becomes law, you can also pretty much write off any thought of accountability on the part of the Bush Administration for any of it's sins.  Passage of this bill by the Democrats is nothing short of implicit ratification and approval of the criminal behavior of the Bush/Cheney Administration; ballgame over.

The atomic clock for due process and privacy is about to strike midnight. Time is fleeting fast; but there is still time. Place phone calls to the critical Senators. If any of them have an office in your town, go to their offices and demand to make a personal statement to the highest ranking soul in the building. Cause a ruckus, make a scene, take a stand; then do it again. This is incredibly important to the integrity of our Constitution and right to privacy; leave no card on the table and no ounce of effort unspent. This post from FireDogLake contains all the contact information necessary for the battle. Step up to the plate. Make it count!

There's more: "Rockefeller And Senate Leadership Are Traitors To The Constitution And Country" >>

Senator Jay Rockefeller Needs To Man Up

In a series of extremely good posts, emptywheel (Marcy Wheeler) at The Next Hurrah discusses the unfortunate, yet consistent, tendencies of Senator Jay Rockefeller, the Democratic Chairman of the Senate Select Committee for Intelligence (SSCI), to turn into a shrinking violet at critical moments when the chips are down. Instead of quoting and retelling the stories here, I am going to link to the four pieces emptywheel has done and urge everyone here to read them in their entirety. This is important stuff and Ms. Wheel does a remarkable job with it. Again, take the time to click the links and read the material. On the other side of the links, I will relate a somewhat interesting little story from my past involving Sen. Rockefeller.

The Wilson SSCI Part One: Or, Why I Want a New SSCI Chair

The Wilson SSCI Part Two: Or, Kneecapping Waxman

The Wilson SSCI Part Three: Or, Cheney's Black Hole

How's that Search for a New SSCI Chair Going, John Ashcroft Testimony Edition

Now, for my little story. In 1981-1982, I was living in Tucson Arizona and attending graduate school at the University of Arizona (organic chemistry and physics for those thinking I am solely a legal imbecile). While in Tucson, I worked for Mo Udall and his re-election campaign. My mother had long been friends with Mo and his brother Stewart, and there were several very hot girls working on the local portion of the campaign, so I eagerly signed on. At any rate, our big be all to end all fundraiser before the election was a tribute dinner for Mo, honoring his twentieth year in Congress, to be held at the DoubleTree Resort in Tucson. The named guests headlining this gala event were Robert Redford and, wait for it,.... an up and coming Democratic star to be, the young Governor of West Virginia, Jay Rockefeller. I still have to this day, somewhere in a box, souvenir t-shirts with the silk screened likeness of Mo in the middle and Redford on one side and Rockefeller on the other. Redford and Mo consumed most of the oxygen the entire day, but they kept trying with every ounce of energy to put Rockefeller on an even plane, because the grooming had already begun for his Senate run two years later. This night was to be part of Rockefeller's national coming out in anticipation of the Senate run. I, along with several of my friends, had a chance to really talk to Rockefeller during a couple of different points in the day, because everything concentrated on Redford and Mo no matter what we did. Rockefeller was literally left alone a couple of times, and that is when we would go over. At any rate, the consensus opinion among all of us was "man, this is the nicest and brightest guy, but what a fucking milquetoast". Some things, apparently, never change.

There's more: "Senator Jay Rockefeller Needs To Man Up" >>

Parsing that pre-war intelligence report

“I’ll fire the next guy who asks about a post-war plan.” Donald Rumsfeld, 2003

(Yes, I know it is Sunday afternoon, and the report was released on Friday. But it is 229 pages long, and I’m not here to summarize a summary, even if it comes from McClatchy.)

Introduction & set-up

Two months before the war in Iraq was launched, two Intelligence Community Assessments (ICA’s) were compiled and widely disseminated throughout the administration by the National Intelligence Council (NIC). Consequences of Regime Change in Iraq and Regional Principle Challenges in Post Saddam Iraq both dealt with the aftermath of invading Iraq and overthrowing the regime of Saddam Hussein. Both predicted the mess in the Middle East as it exists today, both inside Iraq and across the wider region as a whole – but were stubbornly ignored, and planning for the aftermath was actively discouraged. That is probably the stupidest policy decision ever made. Stupid to the point of criminal negligence.

I realize that a new term has just been introduced, so lets define it before we go on. Outside the intelligence community it is not widely known exactly what an ICA is – most people have probably never even come across the term. ICA’s, like NIE’s, or National Intelligence Estimates, distill into a single document the findings of disparate intelligence agencies. Unlike NIE’s, the Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) and the National Foreign Intelligence Board do not have to approve the release.

The conclusions drawn by the 2003 reports, released Friday by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, are so prescient and so damning, I am left to work through the stages of grief after reading the whole thing.

It was all foreseen, and it was all dismissed, discounted or flat-out ignored. To tragic results.

Establishing Democracy

Before the invasion was launched, the reports warned that attempts to establish Democracy in Iraq would prove to be a Sisyphean challenge in a nation with no tradition of open Democracy and the absence of “loyal opposition” political actors. The possibility that Iraq would slide backward, regressing to an authoritarian past was seen as highly likely; and the greatest medium- to long-range obstacle to a Democratized Iraq would be the difficulty of establishing a stable, representative political system in which multiple parties alternate power.

The reports noted the absence of “Political Islam” in Iraq, but also noted that in the absence of the Baathist Hussein regime, that could change rapidly and present daunting challenges. This came to pass.

Security, Terrorism & al Qa’eda

The rise in terrorism and the emergence of terrorist groups aligned with al Qa’eda, predicated by the opportunity presenting itself, was foreseen as well. The reports predicted that actors aligning themselves with al Qa’eda would attempt to replicate the methods of striking against the occupying forces that had been modestly successful in striking back against the American forces in Afghanistan. Additionally, it was predicted that the lines between disparate terrorist organizations would become blurred.

Indeed, this is witnessed nightly on the national news when every bombing and every attack is attributed to al Qa’eda. Either those few fellows are mighty industrious, the invasion and occupation have proven to be a magnificently effective recruiting tool for the organization, or the lines have blurred to the point that all bad actors are classified as al Qa’eda, or all-of-the-above. (If I were taking an exam, I would select “D.”)

Additional volatile elements were present in Iraq that did not exist in Afghanistan: The disparate ethnic groups and the possibility of rogue elements of the Iraqi Army forming alliances with terrorist organizations. The latter possibility became a “probability approaches one” scenario when the Iraqi Army was disbanded and dissolved, and all those trained and well armed personnel were displaced from their careers and livelihoods, still holding all those weapons. (Paul Bremmer’s decision in 2003 to disband the Iraqi Army puts him in contention for the dubious honor of exhibiting the most perfect, abject stupidity of anyone on the planet, currently held by Douglas Feith.)

Divided Society & the Potential for Civil War

The intelligence community determined prior to George Bush’s decision to remove Saddam Hussein from power that the removal of Hussein would remove the stops that had prevented Iraqi society from devolving into sectarian strife. The years of Baathist oppression of the Shia majority would be avenged. Throughout Iraqi society, it was predicted, those who had suffered under the Hussein regime would retaliate viciously against those who had inflicted or enabled that suffering.

The only way reprisals and blood-letting could be avoided would be the presence of an overwhelming occupation force of 400,000 or more troops (see Desert Crossing). The invasion was launched with less than half the troops it was known would be necessary to secure the country after the removal of Hussein.

Refugees & Humanitarian Crises

Another “given” that was overlooked was the humanitarian and refugee crisis that would accompany the unrest that would certainly follow the removal of Hussein from power. It was estimated that 900,000 would be displaced internally and 1.45 million would become refugees. These numbers, as bad as they are, were gross underestimations. More than 2 million have been internally displaced, and at least that many have fled the country entirely. Food distribution is spotty, and the healthcare delivery system is in a shambles, frequently targeted by insurgent fighters from all sides. Health professionals, educated and with resources have left the country in droves. Those remaining are frequently the targets of attacks. The hospitals and clinics are attacked, but the doctors and nurses themselves are hunted down, attacked, tortured and killed outside of work as well, simply because they are non-partisan providers of health services.

The Emergence of Political Islam, & Rising Iranian Influence

Before the invasion, Political Islam had not found fertile soil in Iraq – due in large part to ruthless oppression by the regime of Saddam Hussein. The rebound over-effect that has played out was accurately forecast.

The intelligence community argued that an invasion of Iraq would cast ripples through the region, bolstering support for Islamist political parties in other countries, and would increase financial support for organizations that used terrorism as a tactic.

Neighboring countries, most with a vested interest in seeing Iraq remain intact. Various mechanisms would be employed by the neighboring nations as they jockeyed for control, and they would show little concern for American interests.

The biggest star on that stage would undoubtedly be Iran – (which made overtures to the United States that were rebuffed.) The intelligence community asserted that assuring Iran a place at the table when negotiating the fate of post-Saddam Iraq could help to defuse long-running tensions between the United States and Iran. The administration chose to instead scornfully dismiss Iran, and as a result, the tensions between the two nations have ratcheted up to near 1979-80 levels.

Weapons of Mass Destruction

It was determined by the intelligence community before the invasion that the military approach to eliminating Iraq’s (non existent) WMD’s would not deter other nations in the region and in Asia to abandon their nuclear programs, or even to back off on those development programs. Instead, nations would deem that the programs were necessary and proceed apace. If the invasion has had any effect in this area, it has been to achieve exactly the opposite ends – programs to develop nuclear weapons have increased in effort and intensity. The thinking behind that strategy: Get ‘em now, and use ‘em as a deterent before they can be preemptively attacked and the programs decimated.

Oil & Infrastructure

Before the war, it was known that Iraq’s water and power infrastructure was rickety at best, after a decade of sanctions against the regime of Saddam Hussein. It was also known that the next government of Iraq would require prodigious outside assistance to repair and restore the electrical grid and water purification systems.

In January 2003, those reports stated that securing the elements of the infrastructure would be crucial. (This has not been done, and the chlorine looted from water purification plants has been looted and used to make bombs with a secondary-kill capability.)

On the oil front, it was projected that if the oil infrastructure was relatively undamaged by the war, it would be possible to increase Iraq’s oil production by approximately 700,000 barrels per day, and that Iraq would be able to pay for at least part of their own reconstruction efforts. (This - the one aspect of the pre-war assessments that could have been considered "potentially promising" has not worked out.)

Thankfully, Pat Roberts is no longer chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, or this damning report would never have seen the light of day. (Thank you for the majority and the chairmanship, Missouri, Virginia and Montana voters!)

[Cross-Posted from Blue Girl, Red State]

There's more: "Parsing that pre-war intelligence report" >>

Be Elite Be Cool

This is a companion post to the truly outstanding piece by Corpus Juris below, "The Hunters v. The Herd". If we had more information omnivores, getting intelligent and well rounded meals from across the full spectrum of media, this country would be in far better shape. But part and parcel with this thought, and the discussion below by Corpus Juris, is the fact that politicians have intentionally sought to "dumb down" the citizenry by accusing people who want more then the superficial, who want nuance and detail, of being "elitist".

The shaming of the intelligent and informed as being "elitist" is primarily a campaign by conservative Republicans. Contrary to popular belief, it is not because the conservative Republican progenitors are dumb, or ill informed. Instead, the tact of decrying "elitism" is interjected in the political discourse because it's the only way they can sell their snake oil. When people are educated and aware, the gaping holes, fraud and general destructive nature of the conservative Republican policy set are exposed immediately. So, be an omnivore of news from a broad range of media sources. Compare and contrast. Look for nuance; demand detail. Be intelligent. Be informed. Be elite. Be cool.

There's more: "Be Elite Be Cool" >>

Durbin Tells What He Knew About WMD 4 Years Late.

Senator Dick Durbin is now and during the run up to the Iraq war was a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Yesterday he dropped a bombshell on the Senate floor. It seems the Senate Intelligence Committee was being told the truth while the Administration was lying to the American people. They knew there was scant evidence of WMDs in Iraq. What is the point of having oversight from an intelligence committee if they are unwilling to actually provide oversight and blow the whistle. In my mind he is just as big a liar as Dick Chaney or President Bush. Every member of that whole f**king committee should resign the Senate--right now. Maybe in a while I will calm down, but right now I am pissed. Watch his confession and be just as angry as I am.

This is one time I wish I knew how to load video on this site. Cue Blue Girl.

*****

UPDATED 4/29 @ 4:58 p.m.

Here is the youtube:

There's more: "Durbin Tells What He Knew About WMD 4 Years Late." >>