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Cindy Sheehan Watch: “De-Escalate, Investigate, Troops Home Now”
Peace activist Cindy Sheehan speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2007 where House Democrats were meeting. Though the microphones were set up for House members to speak after the meeting, Sheehan appeared and announced her continued anti-war stance and handed out flyers. Incoming House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Md., right, looks on as Rep. Rahm Emanuel , D-Ill., talks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2006, prior to a Democrat caucus.
Washington Business Journal: Protesters disrupt press conference on lobbying reform
House Democrats tried to unveil their lobbying reform package today, but their press conference was drowned out by chants from anti-war activists who want Congress to stop funding the Iraq war before taking on other issues.
Led by Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a slain soldier, the protesters chanted “De-escalate, investigate, troops home now” as Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., began outlining the Democrats’ plans to ban lobbyist-funded travel and institute other ethics reforms. The press conference was held in the Cannon House Office Building in an area open to the public.
Emanuel finally gave up trying to be heard over the chants, and retreated to a caucus room where Democrats were meeting.
The Democrats who as of tomorrow will control both Houses of Congress have a problem – DEMOCRATS.
Here is video from today’s House Office Building Action:Sheehan says she has nothing against lobbying reform, but she and her fellow anti-war activists want Democrats to know they will keep pressuring Congress to end the war in Iraq.
“We wanted the Democrats to know they’re back in power because of the grass roots,” Sheehan says.
The anti-war activists held their own Capitol Hill press conference earlier in the day before deciding to attend the lobbying reform press conference as well.
Peace activist Cindy Sheehan(C) speaks before reading the names of US soldiers killed in Iraq during a rally in front of the White House in Washington, DC. Sheehan and about a dozen other peace protesters demonstrated at the House of Representatives to urge Democrats to aggressively investigate the war in Iraq.
So, why aren’t the Democrats going to investigate the Iraq War? Are the Democrat leadership politicians like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid abandoning the LEFT?
Appears so……..
But will the LEFT let it go?
No way – they want to IMPEACH BUSH.
A video narrated by Cindy Sheehan shows what is in store for the Democrats tomorrow:
BUSH MUST GO! If war crimes, torture, & crimes against humanity are not reason to impeach, what is?
Click here for Jan. 4 protest info & promo video.Jan. 4, 7pm, National Press Club, Washington DC
Speakers to include Daniel Ellsberg; Cindy Sheehan; John Nichols; Michael Ratner, Center for Constitutional Rights*; Debra Sweet; & a special message from Gore VidalDaring to Change Minds & Move Millions: The Case for Impeachment Now by Sunsara Taylor
Why Demand Impeachment Now? by Debra Sweet
Hugh Hewitt had Sunsara Taylor as his radio guest this afternoon. I will post a link to the transcript when it is available. It is a must read for all LEFTY MOONBAT NUTTER lovers.
Stay tuned…………
Others Blogging:
Previous:
Cindy Sheehan Watch: Sheehan Arrested AGAIN – This Time in Crawford
Cindy Sheehan Watch: Sheehan Convicted of Trespassing
Cindy Sheehan Watch: Sheehan Arrested in Washington AGAIN
Cindy Sheehan Watch: Sheehan Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize?
Cindy Sheehan Watch: Sheehan and Entourage Disrupt Karl Rove At GOP Reception
Cindy Sheehan Watch: She’s BACK
Cindy Sheehan Watch: Sheehan Hospitalized in Waco – To Be Released Later Today
Cindy Sheehan Watch: Anti-Israel Demonstrators Join Sheehan at Sacramento Street Protest
Cindy Sheehan Watch: Sheehan Heads to the Middle East for Peace Talks?
Technorati Tags: CindySheehan
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Senator Tim Johnson Watch: Johnson is Improving But Still Requires Ventilator at Night
Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD) makes a stop on a drought tour at the Oahe Grain Elevator in Onida, South Dakota, in this August 9, 2006 file photo. Johnson, whose brain surgery fueled speculation about upcoming Democratic control of the U.S. Senate, has improved and is being taken off sedatives, aides said on Thursday.
AP: Doctor: Johnson improving after surgery
Weeks after suffering a brain hemorrhage, Sen. Tim Johnson (news, bio, voting record) is improving but still needs a ventilator at night to help him breathe, his doctor said Wednesday.
In the most detailed update yet on Johnson’s condition, his doctor said a test Wednesday revealed no evidence the tangled arteries that triggered the senator’s stroke remain. “This angiogram shows that there is no further surgery needed at this time,” Dr. Vivek Deshmukh said in a statement released by Johnson’s office.
The doctor said Johnson no longer needs a ventilator full-time. “His breathing has steadily improved and now he only requires ventilator assistance at night,” said Deshmukh, the neurosurgeon treating the senator.
The ventilator requires a tube to be placed down Johnson’s throat, making it impossible for him to even attempt to talk.
Johnson, who turned 60 last week, had emergency surgery last month to correct a condition called arteriovenous malformation. He underwent the angiogram Wednesday at George Washington University Hospital, where he has been in critical condition since Dec. 13.
His long-term prognosis is unclear. Deshmukh said his recovery is expected to take several months.
As Flap thought weeks ago, Senator Johnson’s recovery would be slow and require many months of rehabilitation. It is uncertain if he will ever be able to resume full senatorial duties or if he would desire to do so, if capable.
The Senate will be governed by the Democrats as a result of last November elections holds a slim 51-49 margin, including Johnson’s vote and the votes of two elected independents.
Frankly, it does not seem appropriate to count Johnson’s vote or reduce the 100 member majority if he fails to attend the reorganization of the Senate tomorrow. It is obvious that Johnson will not be attending any Senate session for months.
Why or if the GOP agrees to this is beyond me.
Stay tuned……
Previous:
Senator Tim Johnson Watch: Johnson Remains in Critical Condition
Senator Tim Johnson Watch: Johnson in Stable Condition After Brain Surgery
Senator Tim Johnson Watch: Senate Back to 50-50 Split?
Senator Tim Johnson Watch: Johnson in Critical Condition After Late Night Brain Surgery
Senator Tim Johnson Watch: Senator Undergoes Surgery
Senator Tim Johnson Watch: Democrat Spokesman Says Johnson Did Not Suffer Stroke
Senator Tim Johnson Watch: Johnson Hospitalized with Apparent Stroke
Technorati Tags: TimJohnson, SouthDakota
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Iran Nuclear Watch: Ahmadinejad – Iran Soon to “Push The Button” to Produce Nuclear Fuel
Iranian students protest 27 December outside the United Nations offices in Tehran against UN sanctions imposed on their country. Israel will test, for the UN, an underground installation in the Negev desert designed to monitor any attempt by arch-foe Iran to test nuclear devices, the daily Yediot Aharonot reported.
AFP: Iran to launch production of industrial nuclear fuel
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has vowed Iran will step up its atomic programme despite UN sanctions, predicting Tehran would soon “push the button” to produce nuclear fuel for industrial uses.
“Iran has the fuel cycle and very soon we will push the button on nuclear fuel production for industrial uses,” said Ahmadinejad in a speech in Ghotvand, in western Khuzestan province, according to the IRNA news agency on Wednesday.
“The Iranian people have taken their decision and will in no way pay attention to empty cries of the materialists and the bullying of the decadent powers.”
Iran has already announced it has enriched uranium to levels of around five percent. Producing nuclear fuel that could theoretically be used in a power station would be another important step in mastering the nuclear fuel cycle.
Ahmadinejad’s latest comments come in defiance of a UN Security Council resolution at the end of last year which imposed sanctions against Tehran for its failure to suspend uranium enrichment.
United Nations Security Council resolution 1737 specifically precludes any uranium enrichment and sanctions Iran for doing so. The text of UNSC resolution 1737 is here.
Determined to give effect to its unmet 31 July demand that Iran suspend all uranium enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, the Security Council today imposed sanctions on that country, blocking the import or export of sensitive nuclear materiel and equipment and freezing the financial assets of persons or entities supporting its proliferation sensitive nuclear activities or the development of nuclear-weapon delivery systems.
Unanimously adopting resolution 1737 (2006) under Article 41 of the Charter’s Chapter VII, the Council decided that Iran should, without further delay, suspend the following proliferation sensitive nuclear activities: all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, including research and development; and work on all heavy-water related projects, including the construction of a research reactor moderated by heavy water. The halt to those activities would be verified by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Specifically, the Council decided that all States should prevent the supply, sale or transfer, for the use by or benefit of Iran, of related equipment and technology, if the State determined that such items would contribute to enrichment-related, reprocessing or heavy-water related activities, or to the development of nuclear weapon delivery systems. The Council decided it would terminate the measures if Iran fully complied with its obligations, or adopt additional ones and possible further decisions if the country did not.
The Council requested a report within 60 days from the Director General of IAEA on whether Iran had established full and sustained suspension of all activities mentioned in the resolution, as well as on the process of Iranian compliance with all steps required by the IAEA Board, to the Board of Governors and the Council for its consideration. The Council affirmed that it would review Iran’s actions in light of that report and suspend implementation of measures, if and for so long as Iran suspended all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities.
The Council also established a new committee, comprised of all Council members, to monitor implementation of the present text and designate further individuals or entities to which the sanctions should apply. The committee would be tasked with taking appropriate action on alleged violations of the sanctions, consider requests for exemptions, designate possible additional individuals and entities subjected to the measures, and report at least every 90 days to the Council on the implementation of the resolution. All States were to report to the Committee within 60 days on the steps they had taken with a view to implementing the relevant provisions of the resolution.
An anti-aircraft gun is seen in front of the reactor building of the Bushehr nuclear power plant in southern Iran in February 2006. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has kept up his defiance over Iran’s nuclear programme, saying Tehran would deal an “historic slap” to Western nations if they launched military action.
And the Middle East Media Research Institute has ‘The Straw Powers Must Accept the Undeniable Reality: In Today’s World There Is a Rising Power Challenging Their Baseless Ideologies’ – Iranian Reactions to U.N. Sanctions Resolution 1737.
President Ahmadinejad: “Iran Will Be a Nuclear State, Whether They Like It or Not”; “The Iranian Nation Will Give Its Enemies an Historic Slap [in the Face]”
Ali Larijani: “Our Immediate Response to These Sanctions is that Tomorrow Morning, 3,000 Centrifuges Will Begin to Operate in Natanz”
Foreign Relations Steering Council Member: “The Sanctions Will Have No Impact on Iran’s Nuclear Progress”
Revolutionary Guards Political Bureau Head: “Iran is Entering the Nuclear Club”
Isn’t it readily apparent that Iran has NO intentions to abide by UNSC Res. 1737?
You betcha
And President Bush tomorrow will announce a SURGE of 20-30,000 troops into the Middle East theater to supposedly pacify Baghdad.
The nuclear “POINT OF NO RETURN” clock continues to count down.
Tick Tock Tick Tock
Technicians walk towards the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran, February 2006. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has vowed Iran will step up its atomic programme despite UN sanctions, predicting Tehran would soon “push the button” to produce nuclear fuel for industrial uses.
Stay tuned……
Previous:
Michael Ramirez on Iran United Nations Sanctions
Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Vows to Continue Uranium Enrichment
Iran Nuclear Watch: United Nations Security Council Approves Iran Sanctions
Iran Nuclear Watch: United Nations Poised to Pass Sanctions Despite Iran Threat
Iran Nuclear Watch: Ahmadinejad MOCKS the United States and EU
Iran Nuclear Watch: British Prime Minister Tony Blair Issues Iran Warning
Iran Nuclear Watch: United States Considering Show Of Force Against Iran
Iran Nuclear Watch: A Military Option Redux
John Hinderaker: Mr. President, If I May Be So Bold…
Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Expands Uranium Enrichment – AGAIN
The Natanz uranium enrichment complex in Natanz is pictured in this January 2, 2006 satellite image.
Technorati Tags: Iran, Ahmadinejad
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Saddam Hussein Watch: Cell Phone Saddam Execution Cameraman Arrested in Iraq
Update: White House Won’t Condemn Saddam Taunts
The Bush administration sent conflicting signals Wednesday about the taunting and baiting that accompanied Saddam Hussein’s execution, with the White House declining to join criticism of the procedure and the State Department and U.S. military raising questions about it.
“The president is focused on the new way forward in Iraq so these issues are best addressed out of Iraq, out of Baghdad,” deputy White House press secretary Scott Stanzel said. “Prime Minister Maliki’s staff have already expressed their disappointment in the filmings, so I guess we’ll leave it at that.”
Bush not seen Saddam execution video: White House
This video image released by Iraqi state television shows Saddam Hussein being led to the gallows by guards wearing ski masks moments before his execution Saturday Dec. 30. 2006. Clutching a Quran and refusing a hood, Saddam Hussein went to the gallows before sunrise Saturday, executed by vengeful countrymen after a quarter-century of remorseless brutality that killed countless thousands and led Iraq into disastrous wars against the United States and Iran.
AP: Official held in Saddam hanging video
The person believed to have recorded Saddam Hussein’s raucous execution on a cell phone camera was arrested Wednesday, an adviser to Iraq’s prime minister said.
A U.S. military spokesman, meanwhile, said the United States would have handled the execution differently had it been in charge.
The adviser to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media, did not identify the person. But he said it was “an official who supervised the execution” and who is “now under investigation.”
“In the past few hours, the government has arrested the person who made the video of Saddam’s execution,” the adviser said.
Iraqi state television broadcast an official video of Saturday’s hanging, which had no audio and never showed Saddam’s actual death. But the leaked cell phone video showed the deposed leader being taunted in his final moments, with witnesses shouting “Go to hell!” before he dropped through the gallows floor and died.
The unruly scene was broadcast on Al-Jazeera television and was posted on the Internet, prompting a worldwide outcry and big protests among Iraq’s minority Sunnis, who lost their preferential status when Saddam was ousted in the U.S.-led invasion of March 2003.
“If you are asking me: ‘Would we have done things differently?’ Yes, we would have. But that’s not our decision. That’s the government of Iraq’s decision,” said Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, a U.S. military spokesman.
So, the new Iraqi government is having their own New York Times moment?
And you are going to punish this person, how?
Please……
The UNCUT video in question:
On Wednesday, an Iraqi prosecutor who was also present at the execution denied a report that he had accused National Security Adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie of possible responsibility for the leaked video.
“I am not accusing Mowaffak al-Rubaie, and I did not see him taking pictures,” Munqith al-Faroon, a prosecutor in the case that sent Saddam to the gallows, told The Associated Press.
“But I saw two of the government officials who were … present during the execution taking all the video of the execution, using the lights that were there for the official taping of the execution. They used mobile phone cameras. I do not know their names, but I would remember their faces,” al-Faroon said in a telephone interview.
The prosecutor said the two officials were openly taking video pictures, which are believed to be those which appeared on Al-Jazeera satellite and a Web site within hours of Saddam’s execution.
The New York Times on Wednesday reported that al-Faroon told the newspaper “one of two men he had seen holding a cell phone camera aloft to make a video of Mr. Hussein’s last moments up to and past the point where he fell through the trapdoor was Mowaffak al-Rubaie, Mr. Maliki’s national security adviser.”
The Times said it had been unable to reach al-Rubaie for comment. AP also could not reach him Wednesday. His secretary said the security adviser, a close aide to al-Maliki, was in Najaf and would not return until later.
Looks like the Iraqis are learning about the FREE press.
Stay tuned……….
Previous:
Saddam Hussein Watch: Saddam’s Execution Video UNCUT
Saddam Hussein Watch: Saddam Executed as Iraq War Violence Continues
Saddam Hussein Watch: Saddam Hussein- The Butcher of Baghdad Has Been Hanged
Saddam Hussein Watch: Hangman Cometh – Within Hours
Cox & Forkum: Old Acquaintance
Iraq War Watch: Saddam Huissein Convicted and Sentenced to Hang For Crimes Against Humanity
Technorati Tags: Iraq, SaddamHussein
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Barack Obama Watch: Playing on the White Man’s Court . . . by the White Man’s Rules
Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. acknowledges the crowd at the state Democratic election celebration party in Manchester, N.H.
Washington Post: Effect of Obama’s Candor Remains to Be Seen
Senator Admitted Trying Cocaine in a Memoir Written 11 Years Ago
Long before the national media spotlight began to shine on every twist and turn of his life’s journey, Barack Obama had this to say about himself: “Junkie. Pothead. That’s where I’d been headed: the final, fatal role of the young would-be black man. . . . I got high [to] push questions of who I was out of my mind.”
The Democratic senator from Illinois and likely presidential candidate offered the confession in a memoir written 11 years ago, not long after he graduated from law school and well before he contemplated life on the national stage. At the time, 20,000 copies were printed and the book seemed destined for the remainders stacks.
Obama’s revelations were not an issue during his Senate campaign two years ago. But now his open narrative of early, bad choices, including drug use starting in high school and ending in college, as well as his tortured search for racial identity, are sure to receive new scrutiny.
Senator Obama has scared the Clinton cabal. This is the second of an opening salvo in Hillary’s attack of personal destruction against this upstart who would DARE challenge her for the presidency. Drug use, abandoned by his black African father and raised by a white family under White Man’s Rules is quite an opening.
But, effective – nonetheless.
Barack has cleared the field for Hillary’s right – Warner and Bayh are OUT. Now, it is time for Obama to exit the arena.
Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., left, listens to concerns from Terry, right, and Phyllis Keca, prior to testifying before the Federal Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health field hearing in Naperville, Ill.
Obama writes extensively about his struggle to come to terms with being a black man whose African father returned to Kenya when he was 2, leaving him to be raised by his white Kansas-born mother and grandparents in Hawaii. He describes an identity crisis arising from his realization that his life was shaped by both a loving white family and a world that saw in him the negative stereotypes frequently ascribed to young black men. He recounts a search of self that took him from high school in Hawaii to Columbia University, and then to the streets of Chicago as a community organizer.
“We were always playing on the white man’s court . . . by the white man’s rules,” he writes. “If the principal, or the coach, or a teacher . . . wanted to spit in your face, he could, because he had the power and you didn’t. . . . The only thing you could choose was withdrawal into a smaller and smaller coil of rage.
“And the final irony: should you refuse this defeat and lash out at your captors . . . they would have a name for that too. Paranoid. Militant.”
Damaging revelations – a surprise? Not when you are running against Hillary and the Clinton cabal who has kept private detectives busy researching Obama’s life.
So, will the good Senator continue in his quest for the presidency?
Only if Barack has the COJONES to hit Hillary back and hit back hard. Flap can recommend a few for help.
Stay tuned…….
Political buttons supporting US Senator Barack Obama, D-IL, are seen in Manchester, New Hampshire on 10 December 2006.
Others Blogging:
Previous:
Hillary Clinton Watch: Barack Obama’s Presidential Candidacy Will Diminish
Hillary Clinton Watch: Clearing the Field
Rudy Giuliani Watch: Giuliani Continues to Lead Clinton, Gore
Hillary Clinton Watch: Iraq War – “Wouldn’t Have Voted That Wayâ€
Technorati Tags: HillaryClinton, BarackObama
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Day By Day by Chris Muir January 3, 2007