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___.COMPOSITION______In This Issue_______________________________
Tipper Gore is Proud Al Won 'the Majority of Votes'
300 Protesters Greet Rehnquist in his Home Town
Justice Dept. Lawsuits in Florida Don't 'Pass the Smell Test'
Justice Dept. Investigation Screws Florida's African-American Voters One More Time
Global Idiot Bush Asks Brazilian President, 'Do You Have Blacks Too?'
Angolagate: Allegations about Bush's and Cheney's Part in Arms-for-Oil Scandal
Nearly Half of Americans Blame Bush for Inaction Before 911
On 911, Bush Went AWOL from the Air National Guard for the SECOND Time
FBI Informant Warned the FBI about Hani Hanjour Three Years Ago
FBI Headquarters Falsified the Moussaoui Field Report To Block Requests for Warrants
Senators Demand Answers from David Frasca, the Head of the FBI's 'Radical
Fundamentalist Unit'
SMOKING GUN PART 3: John O'Neill: Was He a Casualty of the Bush Administration?
Did the FBI Search Boston's Copley Plaza Hotel on September 10?
Yikes! One We Almost Missed! Operation Northwoods 2002? US Soldier Arrested for
Attempted Bombing of Florida Power Plant!
Why is the FBI Dragging Its Heels on the Anthrax Investigation?
The Saudis Sign a $3.8 Million PR Contract to Influence You!
How Republicans Destroyed the 4th Amendment and Created Big Brother
The Plot Thickens: Enron and Global Crossing Linked in Crooked Deal
Eric Alterman Joins the Blogging Class
__Tipper Gore is Proud Al Won 'the Majority of Votes'
Paula Zahn asked stupid and hostile questions (what did she mean that "it's time for
us all to grow up"?), but Tipper Gore was great, especially on election 2000. "I think
that [Al] ran a terrific campaign, and I think most people don't probably give credit
to the hundreds and hundreds of people who worked in states all over this nation in
order to elect him, because he was the voice, the spokesperson for their point of
view. And I am so proud of the way he ended the stalemate. I'm so proud of the way
that he conceded and let the country go on and become healed and whole. And I'm so
proud of the fact that he won the majority of votes in this country, because that says
to me that everything that he talked about -- you know, civil rights and women's
rights and inclusion and caring about the environment -- all of those things are the
kinds of things that most of the American people cared about. And that's the direction
they wanted to see the country go in." You go, Tipper!
http://www.cnn.com/2002/HEALTH/conditions/05/24/gore.mental.health.cnna/index.html
__300 Protesters Greet Rehnquist in his Home Town
"About 300 protesters, through posters, T-shirts, chants and interviews, blasted
Rehnquist, who they say has used his position on the court to undermine the rights of
racial minorities, women and the disabled, among others. One poster declared:
'Rehnquist and the death penalty - both are cruel and unusual.' But for many in the
demonstration, the biggest issue was their anger over the Supreme Court's key ruling
in the disputed 2000 presidential election. Protesters also demonstrated for the same
reasons against Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia when he spoke at Marquette
University last year. 'I want the president to be voted in by the people, not by the
courts,' said Derl Howe of Milwaukee. 'The people's right to vote has been stolen. He
should have said this is not the business of the court.' The school had planned to
hold an assembly for all students Friday, but [switched to an] invitation-only
gathering" - just like invitation-only selection of the President!
http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/may02/46057.asp
__Justice Dept. Lawsuits in Florida Don't 'Pass the Smell Test'
St. Pete Times reports, "After an 18-month investigation, nearly 11,000 complaints,
discussions with AG Bob Butterworth's office and even a review of the NAACP's
complaint logs, the federal government has determined that only certain minority
voters were wronged. They were Hispanics in Orange and Osceola counties and Haitians
in Miami-Dade. Not a single word from Justice about Katherine Harris' flawed purged
voter list [or] the high number of discarded 'overvotes' in areas with high
concentrations of black voters, such as Jacksonville... 'It doesn't pass the smell
test,' says state Democratic chairman Bob Poe. 'What is their political agenda? To
make inroads and score points with non-Cuban Hispanics and Haitians.' Poe said he
would contact members of the Senate Judiciary Committee... and urge them to probe
deeper into the Justice Department's legal strategy in FL. [And] the U.S. Commission
on Civil Rights announced it would come back to Florida June 20 for a daylong hearing
in Miami."
http://www.sptimes.com/2002/05/25/Columns/Voting_rights_lawsuit.shtml
__Justice Dept. Investigation Screws Florida's African-American Voters One More Time
The Republicans - led by Jeb Bush, Katherine Harris, and Clay Roberts - stole the
Florida election by disenfranchising thousands of African-American voters. Their
primary tool was the intentionally fraudulent "felon" purge, in which
African-Americans were disproportionately included. It was a "high-tech lynching," to
quote Supreme Injustice Clarence Thomas (from the Anita Hill hearings), a 21st-century
version of Jim Crow laws that disenfranchised Florida's black voters for a century
after Reconstruction. The Justice Dept. recently announced legal action against 3
Florida counties, but 2 of those - Miami-Dade and Osceola - focus on language problems
facing immigrants. If there is NO JUSTICE over the felon purge - including CRIMINAL
PROSECUTIONS - there will be NO PEACE - at least from Democrats.com!
http://www.abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20020522_2410.html
__Global Idiot Bush Asks Brazilian President, 'Do You Have Blacks Too?'
Once again, the US media is covering up for our global idiot Bush. Germany's Der
Spiegel reported this story (as translated on BuzzFlash): "It is said about the US
president that before 9-11 he thought that the Taliban was a Bavarian brass band. Now
the president of the world's most powerful nation has put his foot in his mouth yet
again. It was Condoleezza Rice, his national security advisor who had to rescue the
situation. When talking with Brazilian president Fernando Henrique Cardoso, 71, Bush
surprisingly asked: 'Do you have blacks too?' Ms. Rice noticed how stunned and
surprised Cardoso looked and quickly told Bush that Brazil likely has more blacks than
the US and that outside of Africa it was the place with the highest number of blacks.
The Brazilian president remarked later that Bush was 'still in a learning-phase' when
it came to South America." Perhaps Stepford Laura can find Bush a children's book on
the subject...
http://www.network54.com/Hide/Forum/thread?forumid=119213&messageid=1022224713&lp=1022297346&achk=1
__Angolagate: Allegations about Bush's and Cheney's Part in Arms-for-Oil Scandal
"Human rights advocates are calling for a probe of the Bush administration's possible
role in another energy and influence-peddling scandal. According to a recent report by
the British-based NGO Global Witness, Bush and US oil interests have ties to some of
the key figures in the arms-for-oil scandal which has devastated Angola. Known as
'Angolagate' in France, the scandal involves arms-for-oil deals between French
businessman Pierre Falcone, the head of a firm called Brenco International...
Falcone's wife, Sonia, a former Miss Bolivia and a friend of First Lady Laura Bush [R-
Façade], became a big-ticket contributor to Bush's 2000 election campaign.
Contributions were made to the campaign through Sonia's Essanté Corporation, a
distributor of health, beauty, and sexual pleasure products (such as a cream called
Entisse that Essanté's web site says is guaranteed to duplicate the effects of
Viagra)." We demand an investigation!
http://www.corpwatch.org/issues/PID.jsp?articleid=2576
__Nearly Half of Americans Blame Bush for Inaction Before 911
"According to a Time/CNN poll, nearly half, 46 percent, indicated that Bush himself is
very or somewhat responsible for a lack of action to stop the attacks on September
11th. More than half of Americans polled said the FBI, CIA and President [sic] Bush's
top advisers bear at least some responsibility for not preventing the Sept. 11
attacks. Among the polls other findings, more than one-fourth of Americans have little
or no confidence in the CIA or FBI in preventing future terrorist attacks in the
United States."
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAM2TIVN1D.html
__On 911, Bush Went AWOL from the Air National Guard for the SECOND Time
"One of the roles of the Air National Guard is to respond to intruders and errant
civilian flights by putting up a fighter or two, such as in the case of the private
jet that not so long ago flew halfway across the country with an unconscious crew ...
Nevertheless, getting the alert that a hijacking is in progress and getting a plane up
does take time. If, however, one knew in advance that hijackings were a very real
possibility... a prudent and obvious thing to do would be to put the Air National
Guard on high alert to any commercial flights that might stray off course. Had this
been done, the al-Qaeda pilots might not have had a clear run at their objectives and
the outcome of 9/11 might have turned out quite differently for those on the ground.
One cannot argue otherwise... [But Bush spent 911] worrying about saving his own hide,
'getting out of harms way.' In effect, George W. Bush, as president, dodged his
responsibilities and went AWOL from the Air National Guard a second time!"
http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/2002/05/24_Supreme.html
__FBI Informant Warned the FBI about Hani Hanjour Three Years Ago
"A paid FBI informant told ABCNEWS that three years before Sept 11, he began providing
the FBI with information about a young Saudi who later flew a hijacked passenger plane
into the Pentagon. Aukai Collins, the informant, said he worked for the FBI for four
years in Phoenix, monitoring the Arab and Islamic communities there. Hani Hanjour was
the hijacker Collins claimed to have told the FBI about while Hanjour was in flight
training in Phoenix... The FBI issued an 'emphatic denial' that Collins had told the
agency anything about Hanjour, though FBI sources acknowledged that Collins had worked
for them... Collins said the FBI knew Hanjour lived in Phoenix, knew his exact
address, his phone number and even what car he drove... he provided the FBI with basic
facts and let the FBI take it from there. 'When I said there's this short, skinny Arab
guy who's part of this crowd, drives such-and-such a car, I assumed that they would...
start tracing him and see who his contacts were,' he said."
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/wnt/DailyNews/FBI_informant020523.html#
__FBI Headquarters Falsified the Moussaoui Field Report To Block Requests for Warrants
"An FBI whistle-blower alleges that FBI headquarters rewrote Minneapolis agents'
pre-Sept. 11 request for surveillance and search warrants for terrorism defendant
Zacarias Moussaoui and removed important information before rejecting them, government
officials said Friday. Agent Coleen Rowley wrote that the Minneapolis agents became so
frustrated that they began to joke that FBI headquarters was becoming an 'unwitting
accomplice' to Osama bin Laden's efforts to attack the United States, the officials
said. As new details emerged about the letter Rowley wrote to FBI Director Robert
Mueller and senators, members of Congress sought to extend her whistle-blower
protections and encouraged more agents to come forward." Why would FBI Headquarters
minimize field reports to deny further inquiry…unless they had been ORDERED to do so?
Where is the accountability to protect Americans? Where is the OUTRAGE? Impanel a Blue
Ribbon Commission NOW!
http://startribune.com/stories/1576/2859241.html
__Senators Demand Answers from David Frasca, the Head of the FBI's 'Radical
Fundamentalist Unit'
FBI senior agent David Frasca heads the FBI's Radical Fundamentalist Unit, and
received the information sent by the Minneapolis and Phoenix offices of the FBI. Four
Senators wrote a stinging letter to FBI director Robert Mueller demanding answers.
"Please explain his role and the role of the R.F.U. in evaluating the requests from
the Minneapolis field office in the Moussaoui case. What connection, if any, he or
others drew between the two ongoing investigations; and whether he or others brought
such a connection to the attention of higher level F.B.I. officials." Sen. Charles
Grassley (R-IA) said, "If F.B.I. headquarters is still handling terrorism information
like it handled the Moussaoui case, we're in grave danger. This was worse than
dropping the ball. This was bureaucrats at headquarters actively interfering with an
investigation that had a terrorist in hand." Did Frasca read the Williams memo and
miss the connection? Was he told to obstruct the investigation? Stay tuned...
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/26/politics/26FBI.html
__SMOKING GUN PART 3: John O'Neill: Was He a Casualty of the Bush Administration?
"After years of investigating Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda, John O'Neill came to the
conclusion that 'All the answers, everything needed to dismantle Osama bin Laden's
organization can be found in Saudi Arabia.' That conviction went with him to his
grave. Unfortunately for O'Neill and 3,000 other men and women, at every turn after
January 2001, the Bush administration blocked the efforts of the 'most knowledgable
agent it had' to investigate Saudi ties to Bin Laden." So writes Cheryl Seal.
http://www.democrats.com/view.cfm?id=7479
__Did the FBI Search Boston's Copley Plaza Hotel on September 10?
FBI critic Whitley Streiber writes in Unknown Country, "On September 13... a friend
who had been staying at the Copley Plaza Hotel in Boston on the nights of September 10
and 11 told me that the FBI had cleared the hotel on the morning of Monday, September
10, at about four AM, and had searched it. After the disaster, of course, they
returned to Copley Plaza in search of bomb making materials. The FBI's presence at the
hotel on Monday was never reported, and apparently known only to guests at the hotel.
Nevertheless, it means that the FBI almost certainly had, and was acting on, some sort
of knowledge connected to the September 11 attack on September 10. At the very least,
the FBI agents who were at the Copley Plaza on Monday morning need to be found and
called to testify before the joint panel of Congress that is being convened to
investigate these matters." Streiber also asks why unusually heavy volume on the
Chicago Mercantile Exchange the week before 911 has not been investigated.
http://www.unknowncountry.com/news/?id=1578
__Yikes! One We Almost Missed! Operation Northwoods 2002? US Soldier Arrested for
Attempted Bombing of Florida Power Plant!
What the HECK is going on in Florida? "Jacksonville, Fla., police arrested a Fort
Stewart soldier Saturday [5/12] after finding him armed, wearing black clothes and
leaving a power plant where he allegedly left an explosive. Spc. Derek Lawrence
Peterson, 27, is being held on a $5 million bond ... charged with attempting to
detonate an explosive device... The officer searched Peterson's truck and found a
12-inch knife, a six-inch knife, a 12-gauge shotgun, shotgun shells, .45-caliber
bullets, four ammo magazines, a six-volt battery, duct tape, speaker wire and plastic
from an explosive device, the report said. After being informed of his rights, wrote
arresting officer D.F. Valiante, 'the suspect advised me that he was on the power
plant property to practice recon tactics.'" Is Rumsfeld staging phony 'terrorist'
attacks to proactively stop the investigation of Bush's 911 failures? And why is this
news reported in Savannah GA, but not Jacksonville FL?? We demand an investigation!
http://www.savannahnow.com/stories/051602/LOCsoldierarrest.shtml
__Why is the FBI Dragging Its Heels on the Anthrax Investigation?
"Microbiologists…are beginning to wonder aloud whether the FBI's problem is not that
it knows too little, but that it knows too much…The letter received by…Tom Daschle
contained one trillion anthrax spores per gram: a concentration which only a very few
US government scientists, using a secret and strictly controlled technique, know how
to achieve….In February, the Wall Street Journal revealed that the FBI had yet to
subpoena the personnel records of the labs which had been working with the Ames
strain. Four months after the investigation began, …it had not bothered to find out
who had been working in the places from which the anthrax must have come…prominent
scientists have suggested that the FBI's investigation is being pursued with less than
the rigour we might have expected because the federal authorities have something to
hide. The FBI has dismissed them as conspiracy theorists...there is surely a point
after which incompetence becomes an insufficient explanation for failure."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4417654,00.html
__The Saudis Sign a $3.8 Million PR Contract to Influence You!
"The Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia has paid Qorvis Communications $3.8 million since
it signed a one-year $200,000 a-month contract on Nov. 14 with the 15 percent Patton
Boggs-owned PA shop. The bulk of those outlays ($2.9 million) were for advertising
services to position the Kingdom as a trusted ally of the U.S. and a partner in
President [sic] Bush's 'war on terror.' QC, in turn, paid its advertising contractor
Sandler-Innocenzi $2.5 million for work on the ads." So is it really to depict Saudi
Arabia as a trusted ally, or to conceal the fact that 16 of the 911 suicide hijackers
were Saudi Arabian? When will we learn the TRUTH about Saudi support for Al Qaeda
terror?
http://www.odwyerpr.com/0516qorvis.htm
__How Republicans Destroyed the 4th Amendment and Created Big Brother
Writing about the USA Patriot Act, Jennifer Van Bergen writes: "History also shows
that the Reagan and Bush I Administrations repeatedly attempted to push such
[repressive] laws through. Oklahoma City proved that only a 'real' terrorist attack
would convince Congress. Furthermore, it is obvious that the proponents of this
amendment know it is an end-run around the Fourth Amendment. They have had many years
to think about it and have repeatedly shown their willingness to enact carefully
crafted, unconstitutional laws. They know the amendment allows intelligence to conduct
criminal investigations on American citizens without adherence to basic constitutional
protections... Most significantly, it is clear that the events of 9/11 gave the
proponents of this amendment the opportunity they needed to slip it by Congress." Is
this a coincidence - or the work of a right-wing axis of evil, headquartered at the
Federalist Society?
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/05.21B.jvb.usapa.911.htm
__The Plot Thickens: Enron and Global Crossing Linked in Crooked Deal
"Enron and Global Crossing used a complex deal brokered by a third company to sidestep
accounting rules in a March 2001 transaction that was designed to help Global Crossing
disguise a loan and allow each company to book revenue, according to executives and
traders involved in the transaction... A swap of fiber optic network capacity and
services, was brokered by Reliant Resources, one of the nation's biggest traders of
energy contracts, which had expanded into the network-capacity trading market. The
transaction helped disguise what was essentially an exchange of long-term services and
a $17 million loan to Global Crossing by Enron." Earlier, the GOP tried to tar Clinton
and Terry McAuliffe for getting contributions from Global Crossing. But it turned out
that in '89 the BushDaddy gave GC Chairman Gary Winnick immunity for testifying
against Michael Milken. After leaving office, Bush I received GC stocks apparently as
speaking fees -- that he ultimately cashed in for $4.5 million.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/20/business/20SWAP.html
__Eric Alterman Joins the Blogging Class
Eric Alterman, MSNBC's only progressive columnist writes, "I hate the word 'blog' but
I like the format, particularly as a writer. (What's not to like?) ... All I can
promise you is that it will reflect my obsessions: with the actually conservative
leanings of the so-called 'liberal media'; with the self-satisfied stupidity of the so
much of the punditocracy; with the appalling lack of historical, economic, and
sociological context of even the best U.S. reporting; with the never-ending wimpiness
of the Democrats, with the perennially self-defeating obsession with holier-than-thou
moral purity of so much of the Left; with the amazingly insane views regularly put
forth by the Congressional Republican leadership and certain members of the Bush
Administration (Thanks, Ralph); with the musical greatness of Bruce Springsteen; with
Jews in general and Israel/Palestine in particular; and with lots of movies, music,
plays, etc, so I can keep up the flow of free stuff." You go, Eric!
http://www.altercation.msnbc.com
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