I"M BACK

Notice when you read this that Clinton is to blame as the Republicans copied his system. So they say?

GOP-issued laptops now a White House headache
Democrats say a private e-mail system was used in violation of federal rules.
By Tom Hamburger, April 9, 2007
WASHINGTON — When Karl Rove and his top deputies arrived at the White House in 2001, the Republican National Committee provided them with laptop computers and other communication devices to be used alongside their government-issued equipment.The back-channel e-mail and paging system, paid for and maintained by the RNC, was designed to avoid charges that had vexed the Clinton White House — that federal resources were being used inappropriately for political campaign purposes.Now, that dual computer system is creating new embarrassment and legal headaches for the White House, the Republican Party and Rove's once-vaunted White House operation.Democrats say evidence suggests the RNC e-mail system was used for political and government policy matters in violation of federal record preservation and disclosure rules. In addition, Democrats point to a handful of e-mails obtained through ongoing inquiries suggesting the system may have been used to conceal such activities as contacts with lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who was convicted on bribery charges and is now in prison for fraud. Democratic congressional investigators are beginning to demand access to this RNC-White House communications system, which was used not only by Rove's office but by several top officials elsewhere in the White House.The prospect that such communication might become public has further jangled the nerves of an already rattled Bush White House. Some Republicans believe that the huge number of e-mails — many written hastily, with no thought that they might become public — may contain more detailed and unguarded inside information about the administration's far-flung political activities than has previously been available."There is concern about what may be in these e-mails," said one GOP activist who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the subject."The system was created with the best intentions," said former Assistant White House Press Secretary Adam Levine, who was assigned an RNC laptop and BlackBerry when he worked at the White House in 2002. But, he added, "the road to hell is paved with good intentions." Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, last week formally requested access to broad categories of RNC-White House e-mails. Waxman told the Los Angeles Times in a statement that a separate "e-mail system for high-ranking White House officials would raise serious questions about violations of the Presidential Records Act," which requires the preservation and ultimate disclosure of e-mails about official government business.Waxman's initial request to the RNC seeks e-mails relating to the presentation of campaign polling and strategy information to Cabinet agency appointees. He is also expected to ask for e-mails relating to Abramoff's activities, which Waxman is also investigating. The Senate and House Judiciary Committees are also expected to formally request e-mail records from the RNC that relate to last year's firing of eight U.S. attorneys.The private e-mail system came to light in the U.S. attorney controversy because one of Rove's deputies used an RNC-maintained e-mail domain — gwb43.com — to communicate with the Justice Department about replacing one of those prosecutors. White House officials said the system had been used appropriately and was modeled after one used by the Clinton White House political office in the late 1990s."The regular staffers who interface with political organizations have a separate e-mail account, and that's entirely appropriate," said White House spokesman Scott M. Stanzel. "The practice is followed to avoid inadvertent violations of the law." Stanzel said he did not know how many officials used the separate system. Another White House official called it "a handful." Some Republican activists say the e-mail request will not create great difficulty for the White House because nothing nefarious happened and because the RNC automatically purges some e-mails after 30 days.
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Monday, April 09, 2007

Reid On The Fourth Anniversary Of The Fall Of Baghdad
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) released the following statement today, four years after the fall of Baghdad, on the desire of Democrats to pursue a strategy that gets the United States beyond the failed policies of the Bush administration.
* * * * * "Four years ago, our men and women fought bravely to capture the city of Baghdad and bring an end to the reign of a dictator. Today, they desperately need a post-war strategy that recognizes the political situation on the ground and removes them from policing a civil war. Democrats believe we must transition the mission in Iraq in order to increase America's security and more effectively fight terrorism. "As we reflect on this Administration's failed policies of the past four years, we hope the President will join us in moving forward to change course in Iraq, empower Iraqis to govern their own land, and give our troops the resources they need and a strategy worthy of their sacrifices."
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Natives Are Getting Restless
By Jane Hamsher @ 11:01 am

The Connecticut Post has had quite enough:
He has to assume no one is paying attention. Otherwise, there's no way Joe Lieberman could maintain his record of dissembling, prevarication and misrepresentation he's been peddling about Iraq for the past four years.
His new statements flatly contradict his old ones. He tells us things are finally turning around — but he said that a year ago, and two years ago. He has no credibility left.
Hard to pull out a key graf in this excellent piece, but this one stands out:
Among the senator's more ingratiating habits is his constant name-dropping. Listen the next time he's on a Sunday-morning talk show how often he mentions his agreement with former media darling John McCain. Now his affections have moved on to Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, the recently promoted leader of U.S. forces in Iraq. The mere mention of McCain or Petraeus is apparently supposed to put the sheen of credibility on even the most outrageous statement.
But his biggest offense is seeking to end debate on the most bitterly divisive issue in a generation. "General Petraeus says he will be able to see whether his plan is succeeding by the end of the summer. Let us declare a truce in the Washington war until then. For the next six months, let us instead come together around a constructive legislative agenda for our security, " he says.
Just sit back and see what happens, he says — let people continue dying, let the country continue to spend billions of dollars each month. It's a profoundly unserious proposition to ask that Americans, four years into what was promised to be a quick and easy victory, would suddenly stop questioning just what in the world we're accomplishing over there. It defies every instinct of a democratic society.

Haven't seen a poll of HoJo's approval ratings in CT since the election, but they can't be good. His love of antagonizing liberal bloggers really does spit in the face of everyone who swallowed his bullshit line about "nobody wants to bring the troops home more than me" and pulled the lever for him in November.
Ever wonder why every time Henry Waxman sends out a subpoena or asks a pointed question about Republican criminality and corruption, the same thing isn't happening in the Senate? Well, because non-Democrat Joe Lieberman is making sure it isn't from his choice appointed perch as Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
Wouldn't it be nice if Harry Reid would catch up with the State of Connecticut by, say, 2008, and humiliates the little prick by appointing him to empty the Senate trashcans or something other appropriate to the only Connecticut for Lieberman party member elected to that august body