Bush's Rubber Stamp in Virginia Beach

Thelma Drake is so predictable. Once again she is going to vote against the constitution she swore to protect and she will vote to shred the checks and balances our founders set up.

Thelma Drake SUPPORTS immunity for the telecommunications corporations who "allegedly" agreed to break the law and illegally wiretap Americans.

The telecom immunity will prevent Americans from having their rightful day in court. It prevents our judicial system from doing their job.

The corporate lobbyists and republican right wing extremists will say that the corporations are "patriotic" and are innocent.

These so-called "patriotic" corporations stopped the surveillance when the Bush administration got behind on their payments for this service. So much for the patriotism argument.

Innocent? I believe they are guilty. I believe they KNEW they were breaking the law. IF the telecommunication corporations are so "innocent" why are they spending so much money to lobby Congress for immunity?

The telecommunications immunity does not serve the public's interests. It serves the interests of corporations and Bush and Cheney. It enables Bush and Cheney to escape accountability.

Thelma Drake has consistently voted AGAINST holding the Bush administration accountable.
Thelma Drake continues to exhibit an inability to change course...Hopefully the people of Virginia Beach will vote their interests this election and oust Thelma Drake from the House.

John Warner needs serious scrutiny

The recently passed John W. Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2006 has some fine print that should concern everyone. The new law--PL109-364--should be reviewed by many. The provision that is so alarming is entitled, “Use of the Armed Forces in Major Public Emergencies.”

According to Senator Leahy, (D-Vermont), the measure virtually invites the White House to declare federal martial law. It breaks h historical tradition of "federal restraint." “The changes to the Insurrection Act will allow the President to use the military, including the National Guard, to carry out law enforcement activities without the consent of a governor....Using the military for law enforcement goes against one of the founding tenets of our democracy."

Is anyone surprised that this bill was rubber stamped and rushed through Congress with the due haste that we have come to expect from the "Rubber Stamps" anxious to continue Bush's War on our civil liberties? This provision “was just slipped in the defense bill as a rider with little study,” Leahy said. “Other congressional committees with jurisdiction over these matters had no chance to comment, let alone hold hearings on, these proposals.”

Of course, our sweet talking allegedly "moderate" Senator John Warner had his hands all over this bill and it's passage.

Just like Warner was able to successfully prevent hearings on the renderings and White House authorized torture policies he was able to rush a hasty bill provision through Congress that authorizes Bush to trump the rights of states and their citizens if Bush decides martial law is necessary.

Warner has granted more power to a President who has shown that he is the one who needs adult supervision. It seems to me that John Warner and Arlen Specter (R-PA) are operating by the same game plan.

I hope that Warner does run in 2008. The message that the voters could send the Rubber Stamp Congress in showing him the door would truly be powerful.

Hopefully the new Democratic chair--Carl Levin--will legislate Warner's martial law provision out of existence asap. No one needs to give George Bush a new toy to wreck havoc with in his remaining two years in office.

Another Rubber Stamped Nomination

The media and the Senators united today to talk about how impressed they were that Gates was candid in stating that “We are losing in Iraq.” It takes so “little” to please this Rubber Stamp Senate. If Gates had stated the obvious deceitful propaganda, “that we are winning,” he would have been blasted. Frankly I don’t think there was any other answer that a logical, reasonable person could have given to the question. Therefore, it’s not time to “applaud” this candidate.

I’m not saying that Gates should NOT get the nomination. However, I have grave concerns given his history of deceiving Congress during the Iran Contra scandal and “cooking” the intelligence to fit his agenda. There is no history of Gates speaking "Truth to Power" and being truthful with intelligence reports to Congress. The Gates nomination has troublesome questions and to Rubber Stamp this nominee is irresponsible.

Bush and the Republicans are RUSHING this nomination through the current Republican lame duck congress. It’s only a matter of a month before the Democratic Senate would be installed.

Americans voted to put the Republican Rubber Stamp Congress out of business. Given Bush's horrible track record with his nominees the Senate needs to thoroughly assess any Bush nominee.

Consider this scenario...Bush obtained Rumsfeld’s resignation quickly after the mid-term elections so that he could put another "loyal Yes Man" appointee up before the Republican Rubber Stamp Senate.

A quickie four day hearing and then a vote by the current Rubber Stamp Congress is a slap in the face of the the voters ended the rule of the Rubber Stampers. This is the Congress that has rubber stamped Bush’s previous disastrous appointments.

The head of Homeland Security--Chertoff--was derelict in his duties during the Katrina disaster and allowed incompetents to head up disaster relief without overseeing the situation. The debacle during Katrina showed that his people were incompetent, corrupt, and guilty of cronyism. Gonzalez at the Justice Department and Rice as Secretary of State are simply extensions of the Bush administrations, worst they aren’t producing results. Gonzalez “shields” the White House from the legal system and gives opinions that appear “un-constitutional.” The one case that has been sent to the Supreme Court overruled Gonzalez’s opinion on the matter (I continue to wonder why Bill Frist doesn’t have his ankle bracelet on for insider trading. What’s good enough for a wealthy private citizen should be good enough for a wealthy, Republican “rubber stamp” Senator.)

Condoleeza Rice is showing the same incompetence as a Secretary of State as she did when she was in charge of national security when the 9/11 attacks occurred on the World Trade Center. Rice did nothing, in spite of a report with a title spelling out that Al Queda was determined and ready to attack the United States.

I’m not alone in this opinion; many others, including Donald Trump have noted that Bush “does not surrounded himself with good people. Rumsfeld is a disaster. Condoleeza Rice is a nice woman. But when she walks in she doesn’t solve any problems…..You think that’s good?”

It's obvious that Bush needs Congress to do it's job properly and provide the necessary oversight to insure that the best candidates are being nominated for these positions. Bush desperately needs help in order to hire the right people who can produce positive results.

Any current Democratic Senator who is not willing to thoroughly "vet" this nominee is choosing to support the Rubber Stamp Republican Congress that has thoroughly disgusted the American people. IF this nominee ends up being a disaster their maybe "hell to pay" when it comes re-election time. Americans voted and voiced their disgust with the Rubber Stamps.