The Thread on Politics

[Why did Sarah Palin resign?]

Why did Sarah Palin resign?

Personal scandal

 5 (17.2%)

Probable indictment

 7 (24.1%)

Just plain craziness

 3 (10.3%)

Looooong lead up to 2012

 4 (13.8%)

Something else

 2 (6.9%)

Some combination of the above

 8 (27.6%)

Total Members Voted: 29

[Julie Fern]

republicans got nothin'.

[! B L U E WAR R I O R..!]

hard dap to bam! as we know the enigmatic "w's" NATIONAL SECURITY policies continue...these are in addition to the bush/obama defense department and cia's continuing operations in waziristan...afghanistan mesopoetamia and africa...


Some cases where Obama's policies are like Bush's

By The Associated Press –

Some cases in which actions by the Obama administration have tracked policies of former President George W. Bush:

WHITE HOUSE RECORDS

The Obama administration sided with Bush in trying to kill a lawsuit that seeks to recover what could be millions of missing White House e-mails from the Bush years, reasoning that plenty had already been spent and done to recover the messages.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Government, the private group that sued, called it "an incredibly cynical and narrow view" of the government's legal obligations. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs countered that the administration still was pursuing "a greater amount of transparency than Washington has seen."

ENEMY COMBATANTS

The administration filed a legal brief that echoed Bush in maintaining that detainees in Afghanistan have no constitutional rights and arguing that enemy combatants held at Bagram Airfield cannot use U.S. courts to challenge their detention.

The brief said that if the Bagram detainees got access to U.S. courts, it would allow all foreigners captured by the United States in conflicts worldwide to do the same. Human rights lawyer Tina Monshipour Foster said she had "expected better" from the Obama administration. A Justice Department spokesman said the ruling spoke for itself.

STATE SECRETS

Even as Obama officials promised a thorough review of its use of state secrets protections, government lawyers continued to invoke the state secrets law in a federal appeals court in San Francisco. That case involves a suit over the CIA's extraordinary rendition program, in which U.S. operatives seized foreign suspects and handed them over to other countries for questioning.

Some former prisoners subjected to the process contend they were tortured. Proving that in court has been difficult, as evidence they have sought to corroborate their claims has been protected by the president's state secrets privilege.

MORE STATE SECRETS

The Obama Justice Department also asserted the state secrets privilege in a lawsuit brought by the Oregon chapter of the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation.

The only U.S. chapter of a defunct Islamic charity based in Saudi Arabia, Al-Haramain sued after the government accidentally turned over documents that the group says showed evidence of the wiretapping.

Government lawyers asked an appeals court to prevent a lower court judge from releasing any information in the case which they said would harm national security. The administration wants the information to remain secret while it continues to fight the matter before the appeals court. But the appeals court in San Francisco ruled Friday against the government's request for an emergency stay.

STATE SECRETS III

The Obama administration is supporting Bush's use of the state secrets privilege in a third case, this one involving suits against telecommunications companies by people and organizations alleging that the companies violated wiretapping and privacy laws.

The Bush administration had invoked the state secrets privilege to keep a judge from reviewing government documents laying out the program under which the companies allowed the government to eavesdrop on their customers without a court's permission after the Sept. 11 attacks.

IMMIGRATION

As a candidate, Barack Obama promised an immigration policy that would shift emphasis away from workplace raids and place greater focus on employers who hire illegal immigrants and overall immigration reform. Some immigration advocates were hopeful Obama would sign an executive order that would freeze immigration raids, but that hasn't happened.

On Tuesday, federal agents raided an engine plant in Bellingham, Wash., and rounded up 28 illegal immigrants, leading one immigrants' advocacy group to declare: "On immigration, we need change we can believe in."

It turns out that the raid took even Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano by surprise. She ordered a review of the action, and said work-site enforcement needs to be focused on the employers, not the workers.

[Julie Fern]

next thing we know, you going claim laura bush living in white house again.

putz.

[! B L U E WAR R I O R..!]

don't care...just glad we won't be hearing dipshites like you regarding bush/obama national security policies...same policy different name on the box...that's all dovesellers, ad-libs and bigots like you need to know...

now fetch, boy.

[7S]

....so Steele apologized to Limbaugh...I'm kind of scared for the future...

[Burning Sands, Esq.]

....so Steele apologized to Limbaugh...I'm kind of scared for the future...

Nooooooooooooooooo!!!  Straight up?  Awwww, he bitched up.  I thought maybe for a second there Steele was hard headed enough to try to hold his sack against Rush.  I guess he realized Rush has WAAAAAAAAY more juice than he does.  Steele thought that winning an actual election actually meant something.  Rush has the juice in the GOP.  Or as they say in the GOP, Rush "Be Da Man."

[7S]

sho' nuff. Limbaugh makes me nervous... If he told folks to shoot darkies one day I really think I'd need to watch my back.

[7S]

damn...who knew Michael Steele was sooo weak. I figured he'd put his foot in his mouth sooner or later...but this?

[A.]

Yeah I knew there was no way he'd stand behind that.  How can the RNC chair criticize Rush?  The only worse thing he could've done is criticize Jesus.

[Miss P]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/06/health/policy/06gupta.html

Sorry, Alci.

Damn, this administration is having trouble filling those posts . . .