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___.COMPOSITION______In This Issue_______________________________
RadioLeft Will Broadcast 12/12 Events this Weekend
December 12 'Rising from the Ashes' Welcoming Speech by Bob Fertik
Democrats.com Stolen Election Anniversary Events Were a Big Success - What Do YOU
Think?
12/12 Vigil Report from Eugene OR
Attorney Phil Berg Demands Disbarment of Justices O'Connor, Scalia, and Thomas
'The Night Before Election'
Action Alert! Rescind Ashcroft's Regulation to Eavesdrop on Inmates and their Lawyers!
Is The Constitution Being Replaced With The Ashcronstitution?
'Talkin' About the F-Word' by Bernard Weiner
Robert Scheer: 'Connect the Enron Dots to Bush'
Confused, Lying or Forewarned? Bush Says He Saw The FIRST Plane Strike!
Karl Rove Tries To Cover-up Bush's Bizarre Remarks That He Saw The FIRST Plane Strike;
Both Men's Accounts Conflict With Earlier Reports!
Internecine Power Struggle Brewing Between the Bush Gang and the Far Right Faction of
Congress; Dan Burton To Hold Hearings into Misuse of Executive Privilege By Bush
GOP's 'Get Clinton' Effort Distracted the FBI from Investigating Terrorists
Meria Heller Interviews Aaron Cohen of the Democracy Chronicle
Armey To Leave Congress; Son May Run For His Seat; DeLay Likely To Grab House Majority
Leader Post
Federation of American Scientists Decries Bush's Withdrawal from the ABM Treaty
What A Coincidence?
US Army Made Weapons-Grade Anthrax
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__RadioLeft Will Broadcast 12/12 Events this Weekend
Coast-to-Coast demonstrations, forums, and even a demonstration in support of Al Gore
highlighted the commemoration of the corrupt Supreme Court decision that placed George
Bush in the White House. Radio Left provided the only broadcast coverage of these
events which were ignored by corporate media outlets such as CNN. Radio Left will
re-broadcast this coverage over the weekend. http://radioleft.com
__December 12 'Rising from the Ashes' Welcoming Speech by Bob Fertik
In Washington DC, the Bush Administration and the Republican Party have very different
priorities. Instead of helping New York rise from the ashes, they would rather let us
dig our way out of the rubble, by ourselves. Instead of assisting the many struggling
families who need jobs, food and shelter, they would rather aid the fortunate few who
own powerful corporations, oil fields, and mansions. Instead of showing the world
America's pride in our unmatched system of open justice, they would rather conduct
secret trials with secret evidence collected with secret methods by secret agents. My
fellow New Yorkers, the Bush Administration and the Republican Party have their
priorities wrong. http://www.democrats.com/view.cfm?id=5352
__Democrats.com Stolen Election Anniversary Events Were a Big Success - What Do YOU
Think?
We were thrilled with the outcome of the events we hosted in Washington DC on 12/10
and New York City on 12/12. We have received personal notes from many of you who
attended, thanking us for organizing the events, and telling us how energized you were
to be among others committed to telling the truth about Election 2000. We in turn are
grateful to the generous members of Democrats.com who made these events possible. We
believe we succeeded in our primary goal, which was to tell the world - including
Bush, the media, and the silent Democrats - that millions of Americans believe Bush
STOLE the election. If you attended one of our events, we invite you to post your
comments. What do you think was the most important aspect of these events? What should
we do next to build on the energy at these events?
http://community.democrats.com/forums/discussions.cfm?forumid=84&topicid=13971
__12/12 Vigil Report from Eugene OR
"Those of us attending the Denial of Democracy vigil in Eugene on 12/12/2001 chose to
highlight the profound significance of the US Constitution, civil rights including our
right to dissent, the need to protect our right to elect our leaders, and a call to
support impeachment of the US Supreme Court justices in the majority opinion of Bush
v. Gore, issued on 12/12/2000. A tribute had been set up for the Twin Towers victims
in New York City. Approximately 75 citizens attended the vigil with signs, candles,
and bells in hand. Some participants had traveled from as far south as Modesto,
California, and to the north from the Portland area." So reports Bevin Gilmore.
http://www.democrats.com/view.cfm?id=5346
__Attorney Phil Berg Demands Disbarment of Justices O'Connor, Scalia, and Thomas
Philip J. Berg, Esquire, former Deputy Attorney General of Pennsylvania and political
activist... on the 1st anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Bush vs. Gore
which "anointed" Bush as President [wrote] to three (3) U.S. Supreme Court Justices,
Justices O'Connor, Scalia and Thomas requesting that they agree to "Voluntary
Disbarment" for failing to "recuse" themselves in said case and other violations. Berg
said: "It is the appearance of impartiality not the reality of bias or prejudice that
dictates and in this case, there was not only appearance but also actual conflict of
interest. They violated the rules of conduct and must accept the consequences of their
partisan action." http://www.democrats.com/view.cfm?id=5348
__'The Night Before Election'
'Twas the night before Election, when all through Palm Beach, Not a creature was
stirring, not even a leech; The ballots were hung by the shredder with care, In hopes
that St. George soon would be there... http://www.democrats.com/view.cfm?id=5342
__Action Alert! Rescind Ashcroft's Regulation to Eavesdrop on Inmates and their
Lawyers!
"Without observing the legally mandated period of public review and comment, Attorney
General Ashcroft has implemented a new eavesdropping regulation that gives the
government, without judicial oversight or meaningful standards, the unprecedented
power to listen in on conversations between prison inmates and their attorneys. The
new regulation renders the age-old tradition of attorney-client privilege worthless
and essentially guts the right to counsel guaranteed by the Constitution.
Furthermore, the new regulation is unnecessary since the Department of Justice already
has the legal authority to record attorney-client conversations by going before a
judge and obtaining a warrant. Take Action! The Bureau of Prisons is compiling public
comments through December 31 and a huge public outcry could force Ashcroft to rescind
the regulation. Now is the last time to speak out! You can read more and send an
email to the Bureau of Prisons" from the ACLU link below!
http://www.aclu.org/action/attorney107.html
__Is The Constitution Being Replaced With The Ashcronstitution?
"Ashcroft's idea of protecting freedom is simply misguided and counterproductive. In
the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings, Ashcroft was given the opportunity to explain
his plan for safeguarding American freedom. He explained his support for two major
changes in the way we interpret the American Constitution. He first explained that
Americans should disregard the First Amendment and stated that in his opinion, all
American citizens who exercise their First Amendment rights are terrorists. Then, he
explained his idea to extend Second Amendment gun rights to non-citizens and suspected
terrorists." So writes Michael Schiller. http://www.mikeschiller.com/constitution.html
__'Talkin' About the F-Word' by Bernard Weiner
In short, we appear to be at one of those moments in American history where the
executive branch, using the genuine need to respond to a terrorist attack of massive
proportions, is badly over-reaching in both domestic and foreign areas. (The first
draft of Ashcroft's anti-terrorism law even recommended suspension of the rule of
habeas corpus, which would have allowed for indefinite incarceration without charges
or trials.) The Administration figures it can get away with its current actions, and
assume even more power, because the Congress and the American people are frightened
and willing to bend over backwards to make sure the President has the power he needs
during "wartime." http://www.democrats.com/view.cfm?id=5341
__Robert Scheer: 'Connect the Enron Dots to Bush'
"Enron is Whitewater in spades. This isn't just some rinky-dink land investment like
the one dredged up by right-wing enemies to haunt the Clinton White House--but rather
it has the makings of the greatest presidential scandal since the Teapot
Dome...[Chairman] Kenneth L. Lay, was a primary financial backer of...Bush's rise to
the presidency...So greedy was Enron that it locked its own workers into a pension
plan based on inflated company stock values and suspect hidden partnerships, while the
top leadership led by Lay made out like bandits. Bush should be called as a witness in
the congressional hearings scheduled to unravel this mess. One thing that should come
up in the hearings is then-Gov. Bush's October 1997 telephone call on behalf of Lay to
then-Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge to help Enron crack into the [state's] tightly
regulated�electricity market...What was Lay's role in the sudden replacement of Curtis
Hebert Jr. as" FERC chair?
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-000098235dec11.story
__Confused, Lying or Forewarned? Bush Says He Saw The FIRST Plane Strike!
During a town hall meeting in Florida on 12/4, Bush said: "I was sitting outside the
classroom waiting to go in, and I saw an airplane hit the tower - the TV was obviously
on. And I used to fly, myself, and I said, well, there's one terrible pilot. I said,
it must have been a horrible accident. But I was whisked off there, I didn't have much
time to think about it. And I was sitting in the classroom, and Andy Card, my Chief of
Staff, who is sitting over here, walked in and said, 'A second plane has hit the
tower, America is under attack.'" Say what? Bush saw the FIRST plane hit, when there
wasn't a live news camera trained on the World Trade Center until AFTER the first
strike???? Remember - the footage of the first plane was only available AFTER a
citizen's video footage was given to the news networks. Is Bush really that confused?
Or is he lying? Or was Bush watching a secret video channel that was forewarned about
the attack? http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/12/20011204-17.html
__Karl Rove Tries To Cover-up Bush's Bizarre Remarks That He Saw The FIRST Plane
Strike; Both Men's Accounts Conflict With Earlier Reports!
"Rove told his audience about Bush's sense of command on Sept. 11, after Rove received
word that the first tower of the World Trade Center had been struck. 'The president
came walking in the room, took one look at the television set and said, 'We're at war.
Get me the vice president. Get me the director of the FBI.'" Hey, wait a second! This
contradicts what Bush himself told the Florida audience -- that he SAW the FIRST plane
strike! What is Rove trying to pull? He is obviously covering up Bush's comments.. But
Rove's account also contradicts the New York Times report on 9/16: "He arrived (at the
school) just before 9. Right before the event, Karl Rove, one of his most trusted
aides, whispered news of what appeared to be a chilling accident, a plane crash into
the upper floors of the North Tower of the WTC. Mr. Bush was briefed by phone by
Condoleezza Rice...calling from the White House. He decided to go ahead with the short
school event." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28611-2001Dec11.html
__Internecine Power Struggle Brewing Between the Bush Gang and the Far Right Faction
of Congress; Dan Burton To Hold Hearings into Misuse of Executive Privilege By Bush
"Bush invoked executive privilege for the first time Thursday to keep Congress from
seeing documents of prosecutors' decision-making in cases...prior to a congressional
hearing on the Boston case involving the FBI's handling of informants...Rep. Dan
Burton of Indiana, the Republican House chairman whose committee sought the documents,
decried the decision and said it wrongly handicapped Congress for overseeing the
government. 'This is not a monarchy,' Burton said at the start of Thursday's hearing.
'The legislative branch has oversight responsibility to make sure there is no
corruption in the executive branch.' Burton said for the time being he would hold
additional investigative hearings into whether Bush was misusing executive privilege.
Another option would be for Burton to take the president to court for contempt of
Congress...but that would require the cooperation of the full Congress."
http://www.salon.com/news/wire/2001/12/13/privilege/index.html
__GOP's 'Get Clinton' Effort Distracted the FBI from Investigating Terrorists
The Democracy Chronicle has learned that the failures to prevent the tragedy of
September 11 can be traced, in part, to the FBI not adequately following up
intelligence provided by the CIA, its own agents, and others. The story of this
failure begins shortly after the Feb 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. During
this critical period - when crucial terrorist-related intelligence was being passed to
the FBI by the CIA and others - the FBI was forced to turn its attention to other
maters. Congressional Republicans began their eight-year obsession to investigate Bill
Clinton. Initially, at least 50 of the FBI's most seasoned agents were diverted to
work full-time on the investigations. At the peak of the Independent Prosecutor
investigations, Kenneth Starr had the full-time use of over 125 FBI and IRS agents.
The fervor to investigate Clinton may well have provided the threshold of distraction
sufficient to divert the FBI from making terrorism its top priority.
http://www.kiosk2000.com/dconline/warnings.htm
__Meria Heller Interviews Aaron Cohen of the Democracy Chronicle
Aaron Cohen gave Meria Heller the exclusive scoop on two breaking stories. First, why
September 11th wasn't prevented - where were our intelligence men? The FBI was
diverted ever since the lst bombing of the WTC in 1993 by Republicans obsessed with
Bill Clinton. 52 of the best FBI agents were assigned to Clinton, leaving limited
resources available to follow up on all the leads that could have prevented 9/11.
Second, Aaron worked for the NORC report (Fla. Recount) and reports that it was
defective MACHINES - not people - that screwed up the count, yet no investigation of
illegal tactics has occurred. Other news: NEW Bin Laden Video; boat people and
children in trouble in Australia; Brigitte Bardot threatened for defending dog-meat in
South Korea; and an AWESOME report by Robert Fisk, who got his butt kicked in
Afghanistan http://www.meria.net/Archives.html
__Armey To Leave Congress; Son May Run For His Seat; DeLay Likely To Grab House
Majority Leader Post
"Just when you thought things couldn't get any worse, the bumbling, tongue-tied Dick
Armey announces his retirement as House majority leader and the shrewd, malevolent Tom
DeLay, now Republican whip, moves quickly -- and probably successfully -- to succeed
him. Braver souls to the left of Attila the Hun may stand and fight, but I'm headed
for a cave in the Hill Country. With Armey's departure (at the end of his current term
in early 2003), we bid farewell to the loopier end of the 'dynamic duo.' America will
have to get by with one fewer Texan in the upper echelons of the national government.
Columnists will have to make up some of their own howlers. Washington's loss will be
Flower Mound's gain." Hearing Armey get weepy about his wife while announcing his
resignation before Congress was an eerie Jimmy Swaggart/Bob Livingston moment.
Consider the statements by three former students claiming inappropriate behavior by
Professor Armey at North Texas State.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/editorial/1170995
__Federation of American Scientists Decries Bush's Withdrawal from the ABM Treaty
>From a FAS statement: "The Bush Administration's decision to withdraw from the ABM
>treaty is both unnecessary and unwise. It is ironic that as we rediscover the need
>for international cooperation, we are taking an action almost universally opposed by
>our allies. And our allies are not the only ones who support the ABM treaty:
>Scientists are nearly unanimous in calling national missile defense unworkable. It is
>distressing that President Bush has chosen to listen to the demagoguery of
>missile-defense enthusiasts instead of to the wisdom of America's brightest
>scientists." http://www.usnewswire.com/topnews/Current_Releases/1213-147.html
__What A Coincidence?
>From a Buzzflash editorial: "After a several day public relations buildup, the Bush
>administration released an incriminating videotape of Osama bin Laden today. Why did
>they go through a clearly strategic delay in letting the public see the tape?
>BuzzFlash believes that the timing of the release was calculated to minimize coverage
>of two other announcements on Thursday: Bush formally stated that he will pull out of
>the ABM treaty, and he also claimed executive privilege on information sought
>Congress. By creating a heightened curiosity about the video, the Karl Rove PR
>machine followed the classic Hollywood publicity technique of building up excitement
>for a movie to draw record crowds to the opening night."
>http://www.buzzflash.com/editorial/2001/12/121301_What_A_Coincidence.html
__US Army Made Weapons-Grade Anthrax
"An Army biological and chemical warfare facility in Utah has been quietly developing
a virulent, weapons-grade formulation of anthrax spores since at least 1992, and
samples of the bacteria were shipped back and forth between that facility and Fort
Detrick, Md., on several occasions in the past several years, according to government
officials and shipping records...The Utah Spores, grown and processed at the
800,000-acre Dugway Proving Ground about 80 miles from Salt Lake City, belong to the
Ames strain -- the same strain used in the deadly letters sent to media outlets and
two senators in September and October. No other nation is known to have made
weapons-grade Ames. And although it is legal to make small quantities of such agents
under the provisions of an international treaty the United States has signed, experts
said yesterday they were surprised by the revelation that a U.S. lab was producing
such lethal material." http://msnbc.com/news/671913.asp
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