Bad Deeds for 5-18-2009

 

Rumsfeld Sent Bush Top Secret Wartime Memos With Cover Sheets That Mixed Bible Scripture and Battle Photos – Top secret military intelligence briefings prepared by former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and often hand-delivered to George W. Bush featured Crusades-like Bible quotes above triumphant photos of the U.S. military effort in Iraq. These cover sheets were the brainchild of Major General Glen Shaffer, a director for intelligence serving both the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the secretary of defense.

Many inside the Pentagon, including one Muslim analyst, were offended by the biblical quotes, while others worried that the briefing cover sheets, if leaked, would do serious damage as the U.S. and its allied coalition of mostly Western troops prosecuted a war in an Islamic nation. The Bible quotes adorned the reports in part because Rumsfeld wanted to forge a connection with his boss, George W. Bush. Rumsfeld likely saw the Scriptures as a way of making a personal connection with a president who frequently quoted the Bible.

Additional images of “Worldwide Intelligence Update” cover sheets can be found in the slideshow at the link.

 

Palin’s Lies to Nowhere About Obama’s Recovery Package – Alaska governor Sarah Palin indicated that she was initially going to veto more than 30 percent–or $288 million–of the stimulus package. Her reasoning was that it “would grow government” and leave the State of Alaska holding the bag for expanded programs two years down the line when the funds ran out. She then floated a proposal to accept the stimulus funding if the legislature agreed to cut state spending, primarily for education, and use the federal money instead–a proposal that was summarily rejected by the Republican leadership in the legislature.

And when push came to shove to fight the stimulus, Palin was nowhere to be seen. The Alaska legislature held 20 public hearings on the recovery bill and discovered that the strings Palin and her economic advisers claimed were attached to the funding were nonexistent. There were no “unfunded mandates.”

Palin also bailed on a scheduled meeting with state lawmakers, and then blamed them for the cancellation, leading Gary Stevens, the state’s Republican Senate President, to essentially call Palin a liar. He vehemently characterized Palin’s account of events surrounding the cancellation as “absolutely false.” Indeed he was so emphatic about it that he used the phrase “absolutely false” twice.

Palin has continued to slide down the slippery slope of hypocrisy. Her last bastion of opposition to the stimulus package is $28.6 million in State Energy Program funding. Palin claims that “Alaska’s vast expanse and differing conditions are not conducive to a federally mandated, universal energy code” and that “one size does not fit all.”

This past week, two state senators–Anchorage Republican Lesil McGuire and Anchorage Democrat Bill Wielechowski–have formally confronted Palin on her position. So has freshman U.S. Senator Mark Begich (the former Democratic mayor of Anchorage) and a host of other community activists from all across the political spectrum.

Several have pointed out that Palin has exaggerated and distorted the federal requirements attached to the energy funding, noting that virtually all Alaska municipal codes already meet federal guidelines and that rural communities with populations of less than 2,500 are exempt. Wielechowski and McGuire asserted in a letter to Palin that “Alaska can meet the requirements for receipt of $28.6 million in State Energy Program stimulus funds through adoption of local energy standards, rather than a statewide energy code.” All 49 other states have accepted the funds.

So much for Palin’s argument of “one size” needing to fit all. It’s yet another of her lies to nowhere.

 

Obama’s Military Commission Disaster – Candidate Obama told us “[a]s President, I will close Guantanamo, reject the Military Commissions Act, and adhere to the Geneva Conventions.” But now, President Obama has announced that we are now about to embark on our third attempt at trying terrorism suspects in military commissions–a forum that has been proven not to work at delivering justice that is either swift or fair. Today’s mindboggling announcement promised that the system created by one of the last acts of the 2006 Republican congress–the Military Commissions Act (or MCA)–would be revised by Congress to add procedural safeguards before any trials moved forward.

 

James Dobson Lies About the Hate-Crimes Bill – James Dobson, of Focus on the Family, said about the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009:

The dangerous bill, awaiting Senate consideration, would create a new class of crimes based on the victim’s “actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. Those who speak out against homosexuality, including pastors, could face prosecution for “inciting” violence against gay individuals.

No, they wouldn’t. That’s a flat-out lie. Here’s what the bill says:

Nothing in this Act, or the amendments made by this Act, shall be construed to prohibit any expressive conduct protected from legal prohibition by, or any activities protected by, the Constitution.

The only “right” that this bill infringes upon is the “right” of violent yahoos to seek out victims based on their perceived status as a member of a minority group and commit criminal acts against them. That’s the right Dobson is defending here.

You also said this about the bill:

Even more concerning, the legislation could create special protection for pedophiles. Democrats voted down an amendment to the bill that would have excluded pedophilia from the definition of “sexual orientation.”

That’s a lie too.

There’s nothing in either the federal legislation, or in any state law, that could credibly be construed as offering protection to pedophiles. In fact, the entire construct — that these laws create “protected classes” — is false to begin with.

But [this] argument appears predicated on the wholly fabricated notion that pedophilia might somehow legally qualify as a “sexual orientation” — which is to say, it rests on the assumption that homosexuality is somehow akin to pedophilia.

We understand it when right-wing politicians and pundits lie about this bill. We’re accustomed to it. It’s what they do.

Regards,

Jim