george w. bush
Truth to power from high schoolers
Ok that messed up the first time! Sorry.
A large group of honor students were invited to the White House and an opportunity to meet President George Bush. Even with my disgust for his policies and his tenure as the president, it would still be a tremendous meet in greet. Well quite a few of these students were not intimidated. 50 of them signed a letter stating:
“We do not want America to represent torture. We urge you to do all in your power to stop violations of the human rights of detainees, to cease illegal renditions, and to apply the Geneva Convention to all detainees, including those designated enemy combatants.”
YESSS. Senate subpoenas documents relating to NSA warrantless wiretapping
The Senate Judiciary Committee asked the Bush administration to give up the papers as part of its inquiry into the controversial spying programme.
The administration has refused a series of requests to release the documents.
The president rejects claims that he broke the law by ordering surveillance without first securing warrants.
2 Senate Republicans changing course on Iraq
WASHINGTON, June 25 — After offering a bleak assessment of the Bush administration’s strategy in Iraq, Senator Richard G. Lugar of Indiana, the ranking Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, said today that he was urging lawmakers and President Bush to change course quickly to protect a further erosion of America’s standing in the world.
snip
Newsweek: Bush's approval rating sinks to 26%
Lower than the previous low of 28, and the lowest since Nixon.
The new numbers—a 2 point drop from the last NEWSWEEK Poll at the beginning of May—are statistically unchanged, given the poll’s 4 point margin of error. But the 26 percent rating puts Bush lower than Jimmy Carter, who sunk to his nadir of 28 percent in a Gallup poll in June 1979. In fact, the only president in the last 35 years to score lower than Bush is Richard Nixon. Nixon’s approval rating tumbled to 23 percent in January 1974, seven months before his resignation over the botched Watergate break-in.
Speaking of 23%, that's where approval for Bush's Iraq policy now stands ---- another record low.
Iraq roundup
Here's some Iraq-related stuff, in no particular order.
I saw a New York Times article about U.S. forces "arming Sunni Arab groups that have promised to fight militants linked with Al Qaeda who have been their allies in the past."
Bolded that last part so you don't miss it. That's right --- we're arming people who were blowing people up a few months ago.
executive privilege
I'm posting this to highlight a great post by Devilstower over at Daily Kos today, check it out. It's about the Bush administration's insane definition of executive privilege.
He starts out highlighting a few of the week's quotes from Tony Snow.
Snow to CNN: "There's another principle, which is Congress doesn't have the legislative -- I mean oversight authority over the White House."
Snow to NBC: "Congress doesn't have any legitimate oversight and responsibilities to the White House."