John McCain and Harry Reid both accepted boxing tickets!!!!!

Fucking McCain is at it again!
One more detail that the AP's John Solomon left out in his piece on Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV).
The crux of Solomon's story was that Reid acted wrongly by accepting free boxing tickets from the Nevada Athletic Commission. In particular, Solomon focused on a title bout in September 2004 that Reid and McCain both attended.
"Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., insisted on paying $1,400 for the tickets he shared with Reid for a 2004 championship fight," Solomon wrote.

But it turns out that it would have been illegal for Reid to reimburse the commission for the seats. That's because these weren't actually tickets - they were credentials with no face value given to V.I.P.'s. And according to the boxing promoter who awarded those credentials to Reid, it is illegal for the commission to accept payment for them.
Despite that, McCain insisted on paying, and so the commission simply gave his check (written for a seemingly arbitrary amount) to a charity since it couldn't accept it.

What's more, that same promoter says that in other cases where Reid and McCain received tickets that could be reimbursed, Reid paid. That's a key fact which, if true, was left out of Solomon's article.

Bush White House Tries To Stop NSA Lawsuits

White House Wants NSA Lawsuits Nixed

The Bush administration asked federal judges in New York and Michigan to dismiss a pair of lawsuits filed over the National Security Agency's domestic eavesdropping program, saying litigation would jeopardize state secrets.
In legal papers filed late Friday, Justice Department lawyers said it would be impossible to defend the legality of the spying program without disclosing classified information that could be of value to suspected terrorists.
National Intelligence Director John Negroponte invoked the state secrets privilege on behalf of the administration, writing that disclosure of such information would cause "exceptionally grave damage" to national security.
The administration laid out some of its supporting arguments in classified memoranda that were filed under seal.

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Let's make sure we've got this straight. The NSA won't grant clearances to DOJ attorneys to look into the program. The FCC refuses to look into whether the phone companies illegally turned over data. SEC rules of accounting and reporting are waived at the behest of the John Negroponte, thus eliminating any "follow the money" trail for investigators.
Absolutely NO oversight, no way in to investigate anything at all about this data mining program, not through the Department of Justice, not through the SEC walking back the money end, not through the agency that regulates the telecoms. And oh, yeah ... anyone who gets the bright idea to go to the press to leak ... well, even the reporter may get prosecuted now, as well as the whistleblower.
If this administration had spent as much effort on keeping terrorists outside of this country before 9/11 as it has on keeping information about spying on its citizens inside some dark and impregnable loop in the bowels of the White House, we'd be safer in reality rather than fantasy.
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Bush Aide Gets Exception at Harvard

The Harvard Crimson: "A 26-year-old college dropout who carries President Bush’s breath mints and makes him peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches will follow in his boss’s footsteps this fall when he enrolls at Harvard Business School (HBS)."

"Though it is rare for HBS -- or any other professional or graduate school -- to admit a student who does not have an undergraduate degree, admissions officers made an exception for Blake Gottesman, who for four years has served as special assistant and personal aide to Bush."

MR. 29 Percent!!!!!!!

President Bush's job-approval rating has fallen to its lowest mark of his presidency, according to a new Harris Interactive poll. Of 1,003 U.S. adults surveyed in a telephone poll, 29% think Mr. Bush is doing an "excellent or pretty good" job as president, down from 35% in April and significantly lower than 43% in January.
Roughly one-quarter of U.S. adults say "things in the country are going in the right direction," while 69% say "things have pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track." This trend has declined every month since January, when 33% said the nation was heading in the right direction. Iraq remains a key concern for the general public, as 28% of Americans said they consider Iraq to be one of the top two most important issues the government should address, up from 23% in April. The immigration debate also prompted 16% of Americans to consider it a top issue, down from 19% last month, but still sharply higher from 4% in March.

NSA Whistleblower: There's More, People Are "Going To Be Shocked"

From the subscription-only Congress Daily, Chris Strohm reports that NSA whistleblower Russell Tice will make some on bombshell revelations on Capitol Hill next week:

A former intelligence officer for the National Security Agency said Thursday he plans to tell Senate staffers next week that unlawful activity occurred at the agency under the supervision of Gen. Michael Hayden beyond what has been publicly reported, while hinting that it might have involved the illegal use of space-based satellites and systems to spy on U.S. citizens. Russell Tice, who worked on what are known as "special access programs," has wanted to meet in a closed session with members of Congress and their staff since President Bush announced in December that he had secretly authorized the NSA to eavesdrop on U.S. citizens without a court order. In an interview late Thursday, Tice said the Senate Armed Services Committee finally asked him to meet next week in a secure facility on Capitol Hill.

Tice was fired from the NSA last May. He said he plans to tell the committee staffers the NSA conducted illegal and unconstitutional surveillance of U.S. citizens while he was there with the knowledge of Hayden, who has been nominated to become director of the CIA. Tice said one of his co-workers personally informed Hayden that illegal and unconstitutional activity was occurring. [...] "I think the people I talk to next week are going to be shocked when I tell them what I have to tell them. It's pretty hard to believe," Tice said. "I hope that they¹ll clean up the abuses and have some oversight into these programs, which doesn't exist right now." [...]
Tice said his information is different from the Terrorist Surveillance Program that Bush acknowledged in December and from news accounts this week that the NSA has been secretly collecting phone call records of millions of Americans. "It's an angle that you haven't heard about yet," he said.

Bill Clinton vs. GWB

CNN is reporting on a poll comparing job performance between William J. Clinton and George. W. Bush. And it ain't pretty if you're a die-hard Bush fan:
Poll: Clinton outperformed Bush
Respondents favored Clinton by greater than 2-to-1 margins when asked who did a better job at handling the economy (63 percent Clinton, 26 percent Bush) and solving the problems of ordinary Americans (62 percent Clinton, 25 percent Bush).
On foreign affairs, the margin was 56 percent to 32 percent in Clinton's favor; on taxes, it was 51 percent to 35 percent for Clinton; and on handling natural disasters, it was 51 percent to 30 percent, also favoring Clinton.
Moreover, 59 percent said Bush has done more to divide the country, while only 27 percent said Clinton had.

The only place where the two came close was when respondents were asked who was more honest as president, and even then, Clinton outpolled Bush, 46 percent to 41 percent (within the poll's margin of error).
Clearly, when it comes to pissing off the American public, Clinton didn't do it too.

Newsweek Poll: 53% Say NSA Surveillance Goes Too Far

Now on another subject... As you may know, there are reports that the NSA, a government intelligence agency, has been collecting the phone call records of Americans. The agency doesn't actually listen to the calls but logs in nearly every phone number to create a database of calls made within the United States. Which of the following comes CLOSER to your own view of this domestic surveillance program...(READ)

41% say necessary tool, 53% say goes too far.

Republicans Face "Near Lethal" Environment

A new strategy memo from James Carville and Stan Greenberg says the discontent with Republicans "has moved now to a new level" and that the GOP's motivation in pushing an immigration bill is "to consolidate and energize their voters in a near lethal environment."Key findings from a new survey:

Among self-identified Republicans, 40% say the country is headed in the wrong direction and 24% want to go "in a significantly different direction than Bush."
In red counties, those carried by Bush in 2004, 64% say the country is headed in the wrong direction and Republican have only a 48% to 43% lead in the races for Congress.

In white rural areas, 61% say wrong direction; and amazingly, Democrats and Republicans are running even in the races for both the House and Senate. To further exploit this fractured GOP base, Carville and Greenberg advise Democrats to also use the immigration issue by offering "realistic solutions to this big problem. This means addressing acculturation and English requirements for citizenship, enforcement and a respect for the law, and paths to citizenship for the law-abiding. They also will do well attacking the Bush administration for failing to enforce the law at the borders and with employers."

In Rhode Island, Chafee Remains in Close Fight

A new Rasmussen Reports poll shows Sen. Lincoln Chafee's (R-RI) re-election fight much tougher than another recent poll, with the incumbent barely edging Sheldon Whitehouse (D), 44% to 41%.
If Steve Laffey (R) is the Republican nominee, Whitehouse (D) walks to victory, 51% to 32%.
Meanwhile, in the gubernatorial race, Charles Fogarty (D) edges Gov. Donald Carcieri (R), 42% to 41%.

Brett Kavanaugh Had a Sexual Relationship with Washington Staffer

According to several sources, the federal judge nominee has had a year long relationship with a Republican staffer who works in Congress. Details are still emerging but this will most likely hit the mainstream media in a few days if not hours! A source close to Kavanaugh would not deny the claims and his office refused to answer calls.

This only adds to his inappropriate dealings with Jack Abramoff and other ethical problems which he likely will face in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee in the coming weeks. Democrats have vowed to filibuster his nomination due to his numerous ethical problems.

More updates coming!!!