Another Bush power grab. So what else is new?

SusanUnPC at No Quarter mentions the Olbermann rant, ripping Condi a new one. But then she goes on to mention the neatest little piece of larceny you ever saw.
Someone smart must have thought it up for Georgie, 'cause you know this is just a little (snort!) out of his league.

More from the excellent resource page at SourceWatch:

"Cheney has tried to increase executive power with a series of bold actions -- some so audacious that even conservatives on the Supreme Court sympathetic to Cheney's view have rejected them as overreaching," Milbank wrote.

Less in the public eye are the sweeping controls over federal agencies, emanating from the White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB). And I hope that Olbermann digs into the OMB story -- it must be told. My friend Norma e-mailed this vital piece the other day:

A New Bush Power-Grab

Frank O'Donnell (of Clean Air Watch)

Remember when Scott Ritter was correct about what a clusterf*ck Iraq would be?

Here is his take on the coming war on Iran.
Steven D at Booman Tribune

If I were to address [the Democrats in Congress], I would focus my effort on trying to impress them with the issue that will cost them political power down the road. This issue is Iran. While President Bush, a Republican, remains Commander in Chief, a Democrat-controlled Congress shares responsibility on war and peace from this point on. The conflict in Iraq, although ongoing, is a product of the Republican-controlled past. The looming conflict with Iran, however, will be assessed as a product of a Democrat-controlled present and future. If Iraq destroyed the Republican Party, Iran will destroy the Democrats.

I would strongly urge Congress, both the House of Representatives and the Senate, to hold real hearings on Iran. Not the mealy-mouthed Joe Biden-led hearings we witnessed on Iraq in July-August 2002, where he and his colleagues rubber-stamped the President's case for war, but genuine hearings that draw on all the lessons of Congressional failures when it came to Iraq. Summon all the President's men (and women), and grill them on every phrase and word uttered about the Iranian "threat," especially as it has been linked to nuclear weapons. Demand facts to back up the rhetoric.

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FBI 'Hoovering' the internet. What kind thoughts have you expressed about Chairman Dubya lately?

After reading this, you might want to re-read this post.

Declan McCullagh at CNet News

The FBI appears to have adopted an invasive Internet surveillance technique that collects far more data on innocent Americans than previously has been disclosed.

Instead of recording only what a particular suspect is doing, agents conducting investigations appear to be assembling the activities of thousands of Internet users at a time into massive databases, according to current and former officials. That database can subsequently be queried for names, e-mail addresses or keywords.

Such a technique is broader and potentially more intrusive than the FBI's Carnivore surveillance system, later renamed DCS1000. It raises concerns similar to those stirred by widespread Internet monitoring that the National Security Agency is said to have done, according to documents that have surfaced in one federal lawsuit, and may stretch the bounds of what's legally permissible.

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Do you really think that this DOJ under this AG, in this (mis)Administration cares if it's not legally permissible?

As he takes you away, in the night, with no witnesses, the cop said " got yer Habeas Corpus right here!"

This is as plain as it gets. You really need to reflect on this one. You could easily end up in Syria with wires connected to your genitals and needles under your fingernails. And. No. One. Need. Know. Anything. At. All.

Larry Beinhart in Huffington

"Don't really care who you claim to be, and the charge is none of your business," says the more talkative of the two officers, or soldiers, or whoever is grabbing you.

"Wait, let me tell my family and call my lawyer," you say.

"Not a chance," says the friendly police person, cuffing you and throwing a bag over your head.

"Blouff, blouff, blouff," you cry through the hood.

"That'll teach you to sneer at the president," says the talkative officer, kicking you to make you move. "And undermine his War on Terror!"

"It's not against the law to sneer," you try to say, but they can't hear you. And neither will anyone else, because you have no right of Habeas Corpus.

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