Bad Deeds for 1-17-07

White House Purging Ranks of US Attorneys; Replacements to Skip Confirmation – The Bush administration is quietly replacing as many as ten Senate-confirmed U.S. attorneys. Some of the attorneys which are being replaced are involved in ongoing corruption investigations into officials in the White House and the Republican party. The Bush administration will take advantage of a Patriot Act provision that allows their replacements to circumvent congressional approval. One such replacement, J. Timothy Griffin, who was appointed U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas last month, served as Karl Rove’s opposition researcher until late last year.

• Talking Points Memo
• White House Goes After Prosecutors
• WH Moved Swiftly to Replace US Attorneys

The USA Patriot Act allows the president to appoint new U.S. attorneys without confirmation hearings when a vacancy arises. Some former U.S. attorneys say the flexibility puts pressure on prosecutors to pursue Washington’s agenda instead of using their own judgment.

US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales Says Federal Judges Aren’t Qualified To Rule On National Security Policy…Should Defer To President

Immigrants Mistreated by US Customs, Says Report – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement mistreated suspected illegal immigrants at five prisons and jails nationwide, violating federal standards meant to ensure safe and humane custody, according to a report released yesterday by the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general. Immigration rights advocates claim that the report ignored the most serious allegations of abuse collected since June 2004, which they said included physical beatings, medical neglect, food shortages and mixing of illegal immigrants in administrative custody with criminals.

Defense Department database contains information on protesters – A Defense Department database devoted to gathering information on potential threats to military facilities and personnel, known as Talon, had 13,000 entries as of a year ago — including 2,821 reports involving American citizens, according to an internal Pentagon memo to be released today by the American Civil Liberties Union. The Pentagon memo says an examination of the system led to the deletion of 1,131 reports involving Americans, 186 of which dealt with “anti-military protests or demonstrations in the U.S.”

Virginia Legislator Says Black People “Should Get Over” Slavery

Fox News Concentrates On $160,000 Missing In UN Oil For Food Scandal But Doesn’t Talk About 9 Billion Missing In Iraq – Tuesday on Studio B with Shepard Smith, the focus was again on the UN Oil for Food Scandal. Sevan is accused of embezzling $160,000 in the UN Oil for Food Scandal. With all the focus that Fox has put on this scandal, I can’t help but wonder why Fox has no concern for the 9 billion dollars that went missing from Iraq that the U.S. can’t account for.

Quotes From the Fair and Balanced Fox News
“Dan, you talk about a hostile enemy obviously being Iraq, but hostile enemies right here on the home front.” – Gretchen Carlson referring to Senator Ted Kennedy as a “hostile enemy”, “Fox & Friends“, 1/10/07

“Exactly, Sean! Look. He committed the crimes in Iraq. Let the Iraqis try him, not some international court. I want you to go into the street, Sean, and show people a picture of Barbra Streisand and, ah, ask them if they, ah, if you should put that on TV. See what their reaction’s about.” – Neil Boortz comparing the picture of Saddam Hussein after his execution to Barbara Streisand, “Hannity’s America“, 1/14/07

Regards,

Jim