Andy’s whereIstand Blog

It sounds like the CIA is issuing a waver that it’s signing for all its retirees. It’s nice that the CIA is backing the bad guys in this case - Bush, Cheney, etc:

The Central Intelligence Agency has warned former employees not to have unapproved contacts with reporters, as part of a mounting campaign by the administration to crack down on officials who leak information on national security issues.

A former official said the CIA recently warned several retired employees who have consulting contracts with the agency that they could lose their pensions by talking to reporters without permission. He added that while the threats might be legally "hollow," they were having a chilling effect on former employees.

The CIA called the allegations "rubbish". Jennifer Millerwise Dyke, spokeswoman for CIA director Porter Goss, said former employees with consulting deals could lose their contracts for violating the CIA secrecy agreement by having unauthorised conversations with reporters. But she stressed that under current law, "termination of a contract does not affect pensions".

You still get your money, but Rove will be messing with you:

Top White House aide Karl Rove made his fifth grand jury appearance in the Valerie Plame affair Wednesday, undergoing several hours of questioning about a new issue that has come to light since the last time he testified.

Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald declined to comment at the conclusion of the grand jury session. Rove appeared at ease as he left the U.S. courthouse, joking to journalists to "move to the back" as the White House aide, his lawyers and several reporters entered an elevator to leave the building.

A week ago, Rove, the architect of Bush’s election victories, gave up his policy duties at the White House. He is returning to a full-time focus on politics with Republicans facing major problems in the upcoming midterm elections.

Wednesday’s session is believed to be only the second time Fitzgerald has met with a new grand jury examining questions left unanswered in the leaking of Plame’s CIA identity. The only other time Fitzgerald was seen going before the new panel was Dec. 7.

Maybe he’s messing himself a little bit.

This has been Andy D.

whereIstand Tags

• [Open Thread]

I know I keep bringing this up, but now we got the President’s home state freaking out with their boycotts. I thought Texas of all the United States would be in a constant state of the opposite of boycott at all times - consumers forever, big is better, etc, but here we got people putting their foot down, not on the gas pedal:

Texans don’t like to be messed with, especially in this rugged South Texas county not far from some of the state’s major independence battlefields.

So, it was only a matter of time before Bee County Judge Jimmy Martinez said someone had to stand up to tackle a national epidemic striking at the heart — and pockets — of local residents: Rising gas prices.

This week, Bee County became the first in the state, possibly the country, to pass a resolution asking motorists to boycott fuel pumps beginning Monday.

County elected officials said they would ask others in the state to follow suit.

"Hey, the American people are tired," Martinez said. "What we did is we simply took action instead of complaining.

"We’re offering our residents a beacon of hope."

Texaco will be fine though right?

This has been Andy D.

whereIstand Tags

• [open thread]

Dems are calling out some oil-grubbing jerks:

As the debate over what to do about high gas prices continued on Capitol Hill, Democrats on Wednesday called for a new energy bill and federal legislation to punish price gougers.

"There’s no reason why we can’t put forth a real energy policy that addresses the needs of this nation," said Rep. Bart Stupak, a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, "from gouging to market manipulation to biofuels. We can do it."

Jim Clyburn, a representative from South Carolina, welcomed President Bush’s call for investigations into possible price gouging but put the blame for high prices on the White House.

"All he has to do is take a short trip to the nearest mirror, and he will see what the problem with the prices at the pump," Clyburn said.

I have no idea what oil has to do with the creepshow George W. Bush would see in the mirror, but whatever cliche works.

This has been Andy D.

whereIstand Tags

• [open thread]

It seems they already are taking a few steps, and where ever you fall on the immigration debate, I’m stoked that it something is finally taking priority over the War in Iraq:

The Senate voted Wednesday to divert some of the money President Bush requested for the war in Iraq to instead increase patrols against illegal immigrants on the nation’s borders and provide the Coast Guard with new boats and helicopters.

An amendment cutting Bush’s Iraq request by $1.9 billion to pay for new aircraft, patrol boats and other vehicles, as well as border checkpoints and a fence along the Mexico border crossing near San Diego widely used by illegal immigrants was adopted on 59-39 vote.

Later, the Senate voted by a veto-proof 72-26 margin to kill an attempt by conservatives to cut the overall bill back to Bush’s request — just a day after the White House issued a toughly worded promise to veto the $106.5 billion bill unless it is cut back to below $95 billion.

Oooooh, Bush Corp, the neo-Whig veto something? Doubt it.

This has been Andy D.

whereIstand Tags

• Will Congress pass immigration reform legislation this year?

CNN has been making some calls, and going nuts with these polls, but I’m not complaining - maybe November could make us as blue as we are:

President Bush’s approval ratings have sunk to a personal low, with only a third of Americans saying they approve of the way he is handling his job, a national poll released Monday said.

In the telephone poll of 1,012 adult Americans carried out Friday through Sunday by Opinion Research Corporation for CNN, 32 percent of respondents said they approve of Bush’s performance, 60 percent said they disapprove and 8 percent said they do not know.

That’s a significant drop from the way Americans perceived the president a year ago. In a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll carried out April 29-May 1, 2005, Americans were split on their assessments of Bush’s performance, with 48 percent saying they approved and 49 percent saying they disapproved.

CNN’s poll has a sampling error of plus-or-minus 3 percentage points for most questions.

I knew it would be the gas prices that got the people going - trust the suburban grocery hauler brigade to get pissed when the pump drains their retirement plans.

This has been Andy D.

whereIstand Tags

• [open thread]

President Bush has decided to deposit less into the national oil reserve this year now that prices at the pump are obviously on the rise:

Calling the oil issue a matter of national security, President Bush outlined a plan Tuesday to cut gasoline costs and temporarily stopped deposits to the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Bush is delaying this summer’s deposits to the reserve — an emergency stockpile of government-owned crude oil — as he faces political pressure from campaigning members of Congress and anger from consumers about high gas prices.

"So by deferring deposits until the fall, we’ll leave a little more oil on the market," Bush said during a speech in Washington at the Renewable Fuels Association, a trade group for the ethanol industry. "Every little bit helps." (Watch Bush tout his plan to cut gasoline prices — 3:29)

"Our addiction to oil is a matter of national security concern," Bush said.

However, oil experts said the impact of withholding deposits, while positive, will have a negligible impact on gas prices.

"It’s less than 30,000 barrels a day in a country that consumes 21 million. That’s not even rearranging a single deck chair on the Titanic," said Peter Beutel, president of the energy risk management firm Cameron Hanover. "But psychologically, it has some effect."

Ah yes, the national psychology - Rove’s bread-n-butter. Being honest, the GOP really only offers America two things, three if you count religious rhetoric, and that is economic priority and security. Well, they are failing at both with Bush Corp at the helm. 9-11 happened on Bush’s watch, and the ensuing War in Iraq has placed our soldiers in harm’s way. And gas prices have been high forever now, deficit spending is astronomical (coming from a surplus).

No wonder Bush’s approval rating is at an all-time low.

Perhaps the American People aren’t that retarded. We’ll see come mid-term election time.

This has been Andy D.

whereIstand Tags

• [open thread]

Well at least the right hasn’t gone completely bonkers with the deportation schemes:

President Bush had a blunt message Monday for fellow Republicans focusing only on get-tough immigration policies: He said sending all the nation’s estimated 11 million illegal immigrants back to their home countries is not the answer.

"Massive deportation of the people here is unrealistic - it’s just not going to work," Bush said. "You know, you can hear people out there hollering it’s going to work. It’s not going to work."

With Congress coming back from a two-week spring recess to a long election-year to-do list and tensions flaring nationwide over immigration, Bush urged lawmakers to adopt a middle-ground policy. He called a Senate bill, which creates a way for illegal immigrants to work legally in the United States and for many to eventually become citizens, an "important approach."

"It’s just an interesting concept that people need to think through," Bush said of the bill sponsored by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., which stalled before the congressional break.

As for Bush’s comment on deportation, a Time magazine poll in January found 50 percent of the country favored deporting all illegal immigrants. But even Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., one of Congress’ most outspoken advocates for tougher immigration laws, does not advocate mass deportation.

Well aware that November elections could end GOP control of Congress, Bush is walking a fine line on the emotional immigration issue, between his party’s conservative base which wants a clampdown on illegal immigration and business leaders who believe the economy needs immigrants to fill jobs.

Though if it illegal becomes more illegal by being a felony, then I imagine some deportation or "detention" will be happening - and no doubt more protests.

This has been Andy D.

whereIstand Tags

• [open thread]

It’s just a shot away. No I don’t mean to advocate assassinating the president, just quoting one of my favorite Rolling Stones’ songs in honor of Mick Jagger not bowing to the whims of Bush Corp:

PRESIDENT George Bush can’t get no satisfaction — after Mick Jagger grabbed his hotel room.

The Rolling Stone splashed out £3,600 a night for the suite days before the US leader tried to book it.

Now Mick, 62, who has been a fierce critic of the Bush-led war in Iraq, is refusing to give it up.

The veteran rocker hired the luxury Royal Suite at the five-star Imperial Hotel in Vienna, Austria, for June when the Stones are due to play a gig in the city.

Bush’s aides then tried to book it to tie in with a summit meeting.

But Mick put his foot down and insisted he was keeping the booking.

A source close to the millionaire singer said last night: “White House officials had wanted to reserve the suite and all the other rooms on the first floor.

“But Mick and the Stones had already booked every one of them."

“Bush’s people seemed to be under the impression that they would just hand over the suites but there was no way Mick was going to do that.”

Deal with it Bush, rock n’ roll wins. I guess every little protest counts even if it’s over a hotel room that most rich people will never even think about seeing.

This has been Andy D.

whereIstand Tags

• [Open Thread]

Well the gentry at the New York Times have been doing their best to find the silver lining of Hurricane Katrina. Earlier this week they reported that the crime level of the over-burdened city of Houston has risen since receiving the bulk of Hurricane Katrina evacuees, and now they claim that not is all bad for the evacuees - because it took the storm to move some New Orleans residents to move to places of better opportunity - from the article "Katrina Tide Carries Many to Hopeful Shores:"

Hurricane Katrina struck with biblical force, destroying the Marcells’ new home, and chasing them to the outskirts of Atlanta, where they became part of the largest American diaspora since Dust Bowl days. But despite the loss of nearly everything they owned, the Marcells say they have moved up again.

The median household income in their new neighborhood is nearly twice that in the Lower Ninth Ward, and more than four times that in the projects where they had lived. Though they had recently worked their way out of poverty in New Orleans, the Marcells say this mostly black suburb offers much safer streets, better schools and a stronger economy.

The Marcells’ journey illustrates one surprising benefit from an otherwise terrible storm: the exodus took low-income families to areas richer in opportunity.

The New York Times analyzed relocation patterns in 17 counties in and around Atlanta and Houston, two leading destinations for Katrina evacuees. Like the Marcells, the average evacuee has landed in a neighborhood with nearly twice the income as the one left behind, less than half as much poverty, and significantly higher levels of education, employment and home ownership.

Still, it is unclear whether a better environment will bring success, for the Marcells or for others like them.

The Marcells say Atlanta has plenty of jobs, but seven months after the storm they are still jobless. They praise the school their 10-year-old attends but put much of their energy into his nascent rap career, as his reading scores lag. By the time George Jefferson was "Moving on Up," he had seven dry-cleaning stores and a "de-luxe apartment in the sky" — not, as the Marcells do, unemployment checks and subsidized housing.

This seriously sounds like people trying to make the best of shit, people who had decided NOT to leave a sinking ship when they had the chance despite the crime and danger of flooding because they cared about their community, and tried to better it.

This article sounds more like Bush Corp spin than news.

This has been Andy D.

whereIstand Tags

• Are socioeconomic factors improperly influencing the response to Hurricane Katrina?

I care for the health and strength of the left, and for this reason, i don’t understand the investment of the Dems in Hillary Clinton. She’s not that strong of a leader, nor much of a representative. Sure she’s good for a "you shmuck" head shake during a televised State of the Union, but where is she on everything else? A day late and a couple trillion dollars short:

Apart from a well-chosen warning about criminalizing Jesus, Sen. Hillary Clinton hasn’t waded too deeply into the details of the immigration mess. Until now.
In an interview Friday, she cited specific goals that could, and hopefully will, become the heart of bipartisan legislation that might actually fix this national crisis.

A fence or a wall? She’s for it.

A two-step process, where our borders are secured before the 11 million illegal immigrants already here begin to get legalized? She’s for that, too.

The sudden crackdown by Washington on employers who hire illegal immigrants? She welcomes it.

The work and school boycott advocacy groups are planning for May 1? She’s against it.

And she said she favors a "carrot-and-stick" approach with Mexico to provide that government and its "oligarchs" the incentives to give Mexicans more and better jobs in their own country.

"A country that cannot control its borders is failing at one of its fundamental obligations," she said of America’s "broken system." She also said that "we do need an earned path to citizenship" for illegal immigrants here.

Because she is effectively embracing both conservative and liberal goals, and because she attaches a caveat to each, she will be accused of Clintonesque parsing and wanting it both ways. She may well be guilty, but, on the basis of two conversations with her, I’m persuaded she believes in both border security and firm, practical measures to deal with those already here.

Sure I don’t expect any moderate Dems to really champion illegal immigration, but they could be taking this time to define themselves against the right back-lash to the protests and really reach out to those citizens in the minority with friends and family here illegally. If nothing else, then those votes from legalized immigrants would go to the party that was most sympathetic to their cause.

This has been Andy D.

whereIstand Tags

• [open thread]