WTF is happening ??

[solara]

From a post by Kpete: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x923898

"In a new National Security Presidential Directive, Bush lays out his plans for dealing with a “catastrophic emergency.”Under that plan, he entrusts himself with leading the entire federal government, not just the Executive Branch. And he gives himself the responsibility “for ensuring constitutional government.”
He laid this all out in a document entitled “National Security Presidential Directive/NSPD 51” and “Homeland Security Presidential Directive/HSPD-20.”

(More)

http://progressive.org/mag_wx051807



Madame Speaker, Harry Reid, John Conyers, Dennis Kucinich, Russ Feingold, Patrick Leahy, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Murtha, Chuck Shumer, Maxine Waters and all of the other outspoken members of the Democratic Congress, as well as Democratic candidates John Edwards, Bill Richardson, Chris Dodd, Mike Gravel et al. Where is your outrage? Where?

Invoke Article 2 Section 4 of the Constitution for these criminals while you still can.

This isn't just about the illegal occupation of Iraq, it is about the end of Constitutional Law in this country. Congress has recently received testimony from Jeremy Scahill about Blackwater and the 140,000 plus extremely well armed and State Department funded mercenaries who can, at the 'president's pleasure', serve as his Praetorian Guard (Since Bush keeps surging the National Guard to Iraq)...and now this. Maybe it is just me, but when I add the new "Presidential Directive" to the fact of Blackwater and the loss of Habeas Corpus, and to Bush's illegal warrantless wire taps and to the infiltration and Republicon take-over of the DoJ, the BIG alarms begin to go off.

Do not be afraid for your political careers. Call these despots into real and LAWFUL accountability. Take the political risk, stand together in courage and do the right thing for your country! The election of ’08 will mean nothing if you allow this Administration’s crimes to go unpunished.

INDICT THEM ALL –IMPEACH!

The Bush administration has broken our military and seriously weakened the security of our Nation. Attorney General of the United States, Alberto Gonzalez, lies to Congress and walks. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice ignores Congress and walks.. Vice President Dick Cheney outs a covert AMERICAN CIA agent and her operation, which put hundreds of AMERICAN operatives at risk, and walks. Outing a covert CIA agent is a crime, that if committed by anyone else, would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. And Rove... good god....is nothing to be done about Rove? These Neo-con criminals no longer try to conceal their contempt for the Constitution and the Rule of Law.

The Bush administration encourages war profiteering and has completely undermined our country's financial standing in the world. They embrace torture and genocide - more than 3,400 American troops and over a half million Iraqis and others have died, while thousands have been displaced, maimed and injured..Iraq, a once viable country, has been destroyed and may NEVER recover. High crimes and misdemeanors do not even begin to describe what king George and his Neo-con cabal have done to the U.S and to the world. But why should they stop what they are doing? A toothless Congress investigates while the Neo-con toadys in the corporate media spin to cover for the rogue Bush administration. They opt to discuss a candidate's weight or haircut for crissake, instead of reporting real news like the courageous testimony of James Comey before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which may have finally produced a smoking gun. Are we, in fact a banana republic? Has a coup already taken place?

WTF is happening here? It should be clear by now that there will be no respectful cooperation from the White House... ever. Surely the Democratic Congress understands how Bush and his cohorts operate. It is NOT business as usual with these criminals and Congress must start dealing with them as they would any other criminal.

For a while now, I have not been able to think seriously about the '08 elections because I am half-way convinced that either Rove’s “Republican Rule Forever” operation will continue as planned or that the elections will never take place, (a train of thought that used to reside in the cupboard with the tin foil). I do not doubt that the Neo-cons are willing to do anything and everything to retain their power and I now suspect that the '06 elections, for them, were just an annoying bump in the road.

I am not a defeatist but my optimism and hope for this country has been seriously eroded lately and frankly I just don't know if anything We the People can do will make any difference........ at all.

IMPEACH INDICT IMPRECATE INCARCERATE :banghead:

[jazzjunkysue]

1. Agreed. If the dems let this stand, then we have our answer: In on it.

If the dem leadership does not start kicking up sand about this, we all know it's Kabuki time. It's already one party.

Time to start a new one.

[wildhorses]

2. let's get this party started

:headbang:

[bjobotts]

49. Executive + Judicial= a powerless Legislature

Love this post and I've been saying the same thing for months but this Presidential Directive crap is the last straw. Ive emailed my rep and Waxman, Conyers, TPM and the DEM Caucus trying to get them to see what is happening and that we are almost out of time to stop it from happening because once it does we will all be powerless and it could end up in a bloody civil war.

Make some noise...Get this out to everyone because it's time to plan for the worst. Congress is still suffering from the delusion that it can't happen here. They still don't see it because their eyes are focused else where.

[TheWatcher]

129. Congress is delusional about nothing my friend

COLLUSION is the word you are looking for.

I wish it were not true, but it is.

Like I have said, we are ON OUR OWN.

You have no representation.

[Richard Steele]

58. I have to agree. It's looking like it's all just theater to me.

I really hope I'm wrong.

[TheWatcher]

127. You are not wrong.

It's time for us to stop being afraid and embrace the fact WE ARE ON OUR OWN.

Yes, that is too frightening for some to bear.

And I understand that. There is no shame in being afraid of something that foreboding.

But we have to get past it.

It is time to fight back. Not wish it would not be true.

[Blashyrkh]

72. Do you really think "if"?

[TheWatcher]

130. I don't think he does.

No one wants to face this quite yet.

The only hope we have left as a country if if people wake up to the fact we have NO REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT.

It is time for everyone to read The Declaration Of Independence once again to figure our what to do next.

[TheWatcher]

128. You've had your answer to this question for seven years.

How much more do they have to prove it to you.

They are in on it.

They are enablers.

Dogs with Different Fleas.

The Elections did nothing.

And that was by design.

[sheerjoy]

3. Getting set up

for martial law and for him remaining in office as long as his war can be kept going.

[The Backlash Cometh]

5. I think we're seeing the last throes of concentrated white power in America.

At least, I hope it's the last throes. If they succeed, it will be a new plan for the 21st Century. It's a lot like the old plan, but this time it will be out in the open.

[Vilis Veritas]

26. uhmmm...last time someone said 'last throes'...

We were in for a long twisted path to nowhere...I hope you are right and this is the last throes:shrug:

However, even if it is 'out in the open' is it really 'out'? I keep pinging the RW'ers here in the office and they could care less. Some of the dem's are just as non-committal as well. It seems that so long as they ARE NOT PERSONALLY IMPACTED, no worries.

Is the toxic effect of MSM overwhelming the ability to think and act cohesively as one people? Are the vast majority of people who go to work, raise kids, buy the koolaid, even concerned about this stuff?

It reminds me of the kids parable of the Wolf in sheep's clothing. You see in my version, the wolf was on the outer fringes of a field full of sheep. He would take one and eat till full and return when hungry. So long as he picked from the fringes, the sheep in the center went about their business because they were not directly impacted. It wasn't until there were only a few sheep left that they took notice and by then it was to late. The wolf had decimated the herd.

I REALLY HOPE I AM WRONG. PLEASE CONGRESS!!! PROVE ME WRONG!!! IMPEACH CHENEY, THEN BUSH!!!

[The Backlash Cometh]

29. I always relay it to the Stephen King "It" story.

How this dark creature would come and do horrible things to the community, and the community would just fall into a state of amnesia. That allowed the dark creature the opportunity to keep coming back.

[Vilis Veritas]

30. Best King Story ever.

It is a must read.

[CrispyQ]

33. It's been years since I read "It" & I still will not walk by a sewer grate.

Penneywise haunts me.

[rasputin1952]

35. We all float down here....

:scared:...:D

[rasputin1952]

36. Oops...meant to post this to the OP...n/t

[Vilis Veritas]

42. I can't help

but giggle.

Perhaps, that is why I jump over them...never thought about IT...;-)

[StarryNite]

95. It was one of the better King

movies too. Anything with clowns is creepy in my opinion. I hate clowns.

Your name brings back some painful memories for me. :rofl:

[Rockholm]

105. Getting goosebumps now. Thanks.

EVERY TIME I think of that friggin' clown, I get chills up and down my spine a goosebumps from my head to my toes. AAACCCCKK.
Scarred for life. Sharks and clowns. That about does it for me.

[StarryNite]

118. Yeah the spider at the end

wasn't nearly as scary as that damn clown! :scared:

[Vilis Veritas]

107. Riding the trail

Can be painful if you don't work up to it...;-)

It was either that or Iron Butt...

[StarryNite]

119. Anybody that hasn't had a nice set of

saddle sores at least once in their life hasn't lived. Or at least hasn't ridden a horse. In which case they haven't lived. ;)

[Vilis Veritas]

132. Agreed.

You can see forever in a horses eyes...we had Tennesee Walkers, cart ponies, Swishy the barrel pony and my first...Lucky the even tempered Welsh Princess (her name was Lucinda). She once saved Swishy's life by coming back to the barn (Lassie style) and getting us all to go running to the pasture...we found Swishy in a mud hole up to her neck.

:hi: fellow equine lover...

[jebediah]

40. I found that to be very dissatisfying. They just forget?

It seemed so weak that they just forget. They just, somehow, forget. No learning, no change in the arc of their lives, no attempt to investigate or correct the problem. Seemed phony.

But, as I've seen more in life, well... .

[Vilis Veritas]

43. I think that

the point was that IT would not let them remember. That IT was the town and the town was IT. There were some who discovered IT and then did battle.

To cast it into the current political dialogue (not even sure if I can...), the MSM keeps the public spinning and does not allow them to remember by constantly changing the angle and story lines. Some people do rememeber and can do battle with MSM, however, once MSM is vanquished. What will be left once the MSM is gone?

That was quite a stretch...;-)

Still say IT was one of SK's best.

[Richard Steele]

59. That was a big part of "its" power, you know.

Everyone who had ever lived in that town was aware of "it"
from time to time...they just didn't remember. No matter what
"it" did, the public forgot what they saw, allowing "it"
to keep repeating the cycle.

Just like the last 40 years of the repub party.

BTW, welcome to DU! :hi:

[AngryOldDem]

52. Actually, a better Stephen King analogy is "The Stand"

CLASSIC good-vs.-evil tale that I think has taken on the nature of an allegory since it first came out in the early '80s. I don't know if King meant it as one, but it sure as hell fits the description now.

[burythehatchet]

54. George is Randall Flagg n/t

[AngryOldDem]

68. Exactly

I was going to reference that, but I thought it might be too obscure for those not familiar with the characters.

[solara]

79. But, what if he is only Lloyd? n/t

[Divine Discontent]

103. nah... Lloyd's too smart

more insane like a trashcan man...

www.cafepress.com/warisprofitable <<-- check it out, top '08 stuff

[april]

4. Everyday we hear about more power, corruption & on & on This must stop

[MessiahRp]

6. Jesus these guys are nuts...

Sorta reminds me of when they hinted how we'd need a "new pearl harbor" to get the american people to go along with their military plans in the PNAC documents. Just putting it out there usually means they are planning something.

Rp

[Just-plain-Kathy]

24. I think the GOP will create their "new Pearl Harbor" after Dems win in "08.

They'll kill two birds with one stone.

1. They'll extend the wars.

2. They'll make sure a Democrat will never be elected again.

[Rockholm]

116. Not nuts, Vile and Very Evil.

[Skidmore]

7. Is the Dem leadership even aware of this?

Perhaps this thread needs a mass mailing from DU to call their attention to it.

I join solara in DEMANDING that the Dems get off their duffs and impeach this insane bastard!

[solara]

14. I hope their silence is because they DON'T know yet, but if we know

how could they NOT know too?


INVESTIGATE IMPEACH INDICT IMPRECATE INCARCERATE :banghead:

[Rosa Luxemburg]

55. maybe they will say something then retract it just like Carter

ever had the feeling that the Bush admin are plain thugs?

[solara]

66. I can't believe Carter retracted his statement :(

Hmmm lemme think.. I have had that "Bush R Thugs" feeling for about 7 years now....and, day by day, the feeling gets stronger



INVESTIGATE IMPEACH INDICT IMPRECATE INCARCERATE :banghead:

[xxqqqzme]

22. Mass mail my ass - it's time to hit the phones!

I'm guessing each & every DUer has their representatives phone numbers on their contact list if not on speed dial.

[On the Road]

8. Of Course the Hidden Question in All This is:

Who gets to decide what constitutes and emergency? What do you want to wager it's the president who can do so unilaterally?

[solara]

12. Exactly.......n/t

[Marr]

120. It is. Acording to the document, he could deem just about anything as

an excuse for seizing dictatorial powers. A blizzard or a dip in the stock market would qualify. An oil spill. And yep- HE gets to decide.

Ninety days after he's made this decision, one of his people (the head of Homeland Security, I think) has to present him with a plan for moving forward, which he unilaterally either denies (retaining his dictator status), or accepts. Of course, the plan is to be drafted by his own people, so the plan itself could be "GW Bush is emperor".

[bonito]

9. K&R

[snappyturtle]

10. Last night when I first became aware of this new directive....

I started refreshing my memory of *'s executive orders, new powers of FEMA under Homeland Security,the broadening of executive powers, emergency powers,national guard under federal control,the Halliburton contract for $385 million (or is it billion?),it's a lot, to build "camps",etc. All of these powers in combination with the loss of habeas and illegal wire tapping point to a bad future for America. I am so upset about this directive.

So now I've ranted but I don't feel better. This exercise of mine has proved again we have much to fear....it isn't fear of the unknown which is paranoia, imho, but fear of the known laid right before our eyes by the arrogant administration and the lazy DEMS in Congress. :scared: K&R

[solara]

13. I knew there were other directives.. but I couldn't find any links

Thank you for reminding us what has already occurred... If we look back at everything Bush & Gonzales have pushed through in the dead of night as well as the many signing statements.. a very ugly picture emerges...these criminals are all about covering their asses until they can make their move, whatever that might be. It is imperative that the Dems address this issue immediately.

INVESTIGATE IMPEACH INDICT IMPRECATE INCARCERATE :banghead:

[snappyturtle]

18. Sorry, I didn't keep track of my searches however,

there's lots available by just "Googling" presidential directives, executive orders, emergency powers, etc. These searches yielded me more than I had time for last night.

Please, no thanks needed. I had "forgotten" the accumulative number of nefarious acts committed by the administration and other fringe manipulators in the cabal. I think we need to remind ourselves of these events to construct a whole picture....warning: not a pretty picture!

edit--spelling

[yy4me]

11. This goes hand in hand with the news that a plan is in hand to

have all the government business conducted out of the bowels of the White House. I can not find the information but news to this end was posted here last week. Catastrophe, everyone underground, take control of everything, declare martial law. How do you define "coup d'etat"?

[CGowen]

15. You've got to be "prepared" when a nuke hits a city

The biggest danger is that al Qaeda will deliberately provoke a war with a "false-flag" operation, say, a terrorist attack carried out in a way that would make it appear as though it were Iran's doing. The United States should be extremely wary of such deception. In the event of an attack, accurately assigning blame will require very careful intelligence work. It may require months, or even years, of patient investigating to identify the plotters behind well-planned and well-executed operations,

http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20070501faessay86304-p30/bruce-riedel/al-qaeda-strikes-back.html

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na...

President Bush issued a formal national security directive Wednesday ordering agencies to prepare contingency plans for a surprise, "decapitating" attack on the federal government, and assigned responsibility for coordinating such plans to the White House.
The prospect of a nuclear bomb being detonated in Washington without warning, whether smuggled in by terrorists or a foreign government, has been cited by many security analysts as a rising concern since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=125x155870

[firefox_fan]

23. They had a test in LA, on '24'

So the masses are prepared and see it as unavoidable. Oh, wait, viewership for '24' is dramatically down. Perhaps it didn't work.

[CGowen]

28. "24"....yep.... when Rush is giving his approval kiss....

Chertoff was the featured speaker at a morning forum sponsored by the Heritage Foundation, a think tank that normally sticks to real, if less sexy, topics such as tax policy and entitlement programs. Heritage's Phillip Truluck conceded in introductory remarks that the event at the Ronald Reagan Building was "very unusual" for the conservative organization.

He was probably right, considering that the panel discussion after Chertoff's remarks included two national security scholars, "24" co-creators Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran, and the actors who play the show's Nixonish president (Gregory Itzin) and CTU agents Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard) and Chloe O'Brian (Mary Lynn Rajskub).

The discussion was hosted by Rush Limbaugh, who breached the art-vs.-life divide early by planting a big kiss on the woman he introduced to a knowing audience simply as "Chloe."

All this, plus special guest Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who sat in the front row of the packed amphitheater.

...

The title of the session was " '24' and America's Image in Fighting Terrorism: Fact, Fiction or Does it Matter?" Everyone seemed to agree that it mattered, somehow, which is probably the answer Fox's promotions department was hoping to hear. No less than Chertoff himself praised the character and tenacity of "24's" fictitious uber-agent, Jack Bauer (played by Kiefer Sutherland), and his CTU colleagues, saying such perseverance will help America defeat terrorism.

Chertoff, of course, failed to mention a few other key departures from reality, such as that "24's" president, Charles Logan, last season was A) a devious madman who authorized a plan to supply a Russian terrorist group with nerve gas, and B) had several people killed, including his predecessor, and C) was the tool of a shadowy organization whose leader wears one of those funny telephone earpieces.

.....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/23/AR2006062301804.html

[shifting_sands]

16. Keep on Looking

Yesterday ME posted a ton of information regarding this, you can find it at the top of the Greatest page. People are thankfully paying attention to the tricks of this administration

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x926952

[shifting_sands]

17. duplicate post

deleted

[Beam Me Up]

19. They are getting ready to MIHOP *AGAIN*

All their plans are in place -- if they can't provoke an attack against us, then they'll stage it themselves.

[southerncrone]

87. Yep

[Cobalt-60]

92. Watch your local rich

The 'cons will no doubt issue warnings to their wealthy friends.
If all of the rich in a metro area flee at once, here it comes.

[firefox_fan]

101. But wouldn't they fly "quietly"?

[Cobalt-60]

122. they'll stampede like the cowardly cattle they are

[TheWatcher]

124. No they won't.

Only a very small percentage in this game are not expendable and part of the Big Club.

Trust me, your "local rich" are not among them.

They are in for an awakening that could be fatal.

[Emit]

20. Check this out

From National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive
NATIONAL SECURITY PRESIDENTIAL DIRECTIVE/NSPD 51:

The President shall lead the activities of the Federal Government for ensuring constitutional government. In order to advise and assist the President in that function, the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism (APHS/CT) is hereby designated as the National Continuity Coordinator. The National Continuity Coordinator, in coordination with the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs (APNSA), without exercising directive authority, shall coordinate the development and implementation of continuity policy for executive departments and agencies. The Continuity Policy Coordination Committee (CPCC), chaired by a Senior Director from the Homeland Security Council staff, designated by the National Continuity Coordinator, shall be the main day-to-day forum for such policy coordination.

http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/nspd/nspd-51.htm


Who is the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism?

Frances Fragos Townsend

~snip~

Just a little over two years ago, she had never met Bush and was viewed with suspicion by the inner circle of a tribalistic White House that does not easily accept outsiders. But the hard-charging Townsend has parlayed a succession of powerful patrons into one of the government's most important jobs. Along the way, in a city where partisan lines are rarely bridged, she has transformed herself from confidante of then-Attorney General Janet Reno to a confidante of George W. Bush.

~snip~

"She obviously has the confidence of the president, and that has a huge impact on her ability to influence the process," said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. She is the "coordinator, the facilitator, the bridge," as FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III put it, between the powerful institutions and clashing egos of a war cabinet. Townsend is both "honest broker" in the many internal debates, said national security adviser Stephen J. Hadley, and "crisis manager" during terrorist attacks such as the recent London bombings.

Among her many mentors, she counts Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, longtime FBI Director Louis J. Freeh and former White House counterterrorism czar Richard A. Clarke. Even Saudi princes greet her deferentially as Bush's personal emissary, although she had never been to the Middle East before signing on with the president. "He turns to her as a kind of go-to person," Rice said.


~snip~

Even her husband, John -- an arbitrage lawyer, a classmate of Bush's at Andover and Yale, and a registered Democrat -- said his wife confounded expectations for someone in her position.

~snip~

On that fateful Sept. 11 nearly four years ago, Townsend was at home with her 2-week-old son, Patrick, frantically paging her close friend John O'Neill.

O'Neill, a legendary FBI official who led its efforts against al Qaeda before growing disillusioned, had just quit the bureau to head security at the World Trade Center. He assured her he was all right in a text message that arrived minutes before the first tower collapsed, burying him in the rubble.

The day came at a low point in Townsend's career. Until a few months earlier, she had run the Justice Department's Office of Intelligence Policy and Review that decided which cases merited supersecret intelligence wiretaps, work that took her inside al Qaeda cases, such as the 1998 embassy bombings in Africa.

She also became a key adviser to Reno, acting in her own words as a "back channel" between O'Neill and the attorney general, briefing her multiple times a day during a crisis. "Reno would call at all hours of the day or night from her office," Townsend's husband remembered.

~snip~

Her first job was at the Brooklyn district attorney's office. Early work on mob cases led Rudolph W. Giuliani to hire her in the U.S. attorney's office in New York; the future mayor recalled that "she was exactly like today -- very, very smart. Very much in charge."


~snip~

Her office would be a focus of controversy after Sept. 11. As the gatekeeper for intelligence wiretap requests, Townsend's office fought efforts to invoke the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act in matters that could result in criminal cases, fearing that prosecutors would use such surveillance to circumvent the more difficult threshold for obtaining a criminal wiretap. In practical terms, the result was what commission reports called "The Wall," fencing off investigators from potentially useful information about suspects on American soil.

In an example cited by a bipartisan congressional commission, Townsend refused to endorse a secret intelligence wiretap on Los Alamos scientist Wen Ho Lee because the FBI's interest in the case was "way too criminal." (She told the panel she did not recall making that remark but did not deny conveying such a point.) Townsend in recent years has said she fought "tooth and nail" against information-sharing restrictions. But three former senior advisers to Reno said they knew of no such examples. "She was one of the leading defenders of the famous Wall," one of them said. "She was an assiduous defender of the rules."

When Bush came into office, senior Justice officials were told by incoming Attorney General John D. Ashcroft's team that Townsend was one of those slated to go. They also mentioned complaints about her by U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth, at the time head of the secret-wiretap court. ... two Townsend patrons urged Rice to hire her at the National Security Council. Both Clarke, the publicity-savvy former counterterrorism chief who later criticized Bush for failure to pay early enough attention to the al Qaeda threat, and Gen. John A. Gordon, at the time Bush's homeland security chief, lobbied for Townsend.

~snip~

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/26/AR2005082601511_pf.html

To many old Washington hands, the casting is stunning. A registered Republican, Townsend, 42, is a holdover from the Clinton administration, where she served as Attorney General Janet Reno's trusted but controversial intelligence adviser. She was so controversial that Reno's replacement, John Ashcroft, dropped Townsend from the top intelligence job, but now she's back in power--big time. "There's this huge head scratch to the whole thing," says a former Justice Department official in the Clinton administration. "How can this crowd of people who are all about, 'Oh, you've got to be a true believer,' let her into the fold and allow her to reach this incredible height?"

The answer depends on who's supplying it. Townsend has an abundance of fans and critics. "She is able to separate wheat from chaff," says Deputy Attorney General James Comey, an unabashed admirer. "There's a tendency in the counterterrorism arena, because of the stakes and because of people's worries about making mistakes, not to prioritize among pieces of information. Fran Townsend has the ability and the courage to say: 'This is important; this is not important. Focus on the important thing.'"

~snip~

Townsend's career began as a prosecutor in the Brooklyn district attorney's office, but it took off when she moved to the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan, where she began prosecuting corporate and mob cases for Rudolph Giuliani. Comey, a young prosecutor there, remembers the disappointment of some of Townsend's witnesses when he was asked to take over one of her Mafia cases. "You know," he says, laughing, "they were all depressed when I became their handler, and I don't think it's because I'm any less attractive. It's just that she had a great rapport with people--great people skills."

~snip~

"She was a wannabe FBI agent; she loved the FBI. She reveled in that," says a knowledgeable source. Townsend developed a unique perspective on al Qaeda because of her close personal friendship with a legendary FBI agent and al Qaeda expert named John O'Neill, who retired from the bureau but lost his life on Sept. 11, 2001, just days after starting his job as security chief at the World Trade Center.

~snip~

Another of Townsend's mentors is former FBI Director Louis Freeh, who encouraged her to accept a sensitive Justice job that turned into a hornet's nest. In 1998, at Reno's request, Townsend became the head of the powerful Office of Intelligence Policy and Review. The OIPR enforces a controversial statute known as the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, under which the FBI or other agencies can obtain special wiretaps and other search and surveillance warrants to track spies and terrorists. A FISA court meets in secret to approve requests for the wiretaps and warrants. Since FISA warrants are intended primarily to gather intelligence, not prosecute criminals, there was tension and confusion at the time over whether the information they produced could be shared with agents or prosecutors working on criminal cases. Townsend found herself in the middle of that debate over how much of a "wall" should exist between intelligence-gatherers and prosecutors, and her tenure at OIPR remains controversial today...

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/041206/6townsend.htm


edited to add text

[moodforaday]

25. So here's the mother of all conspiracy theories...

"She was a wannabe FBI agent; she loved the FBI. She reveled in that," says a knowledgeable source. Townsend developed a unique perspective on al Qaeda because of her close personal friendship with a legendary FBI agent and al Qaeda expert named John O'Neill, who retired from the bureau but lost his life on Sept. 11, 2001, just days after starting his job as security chief at the World Trade Center.

(And she served under Reno, and her husband is a Dem.)

If it didn't sound so utterly batshit crazy, I'd say Bush had just figured MIHOP, figured he's a pinhead puppet as well, and is setting up his own defenses in case Cheney stages another 9/11. Remember that Cheney and Rumsfeld were running Continuity of Government (and had done multiple preparations for this eventuality back in the '80s).

Here's Peter Dale Scott on Cheney and CoG:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2978244787099383010&hl=en

[Emit]

27. Cheney, Rumsfeld & COG

Thanks, I'll check out that video. Funny, I just posted this on another thread:

I first posted this excerpt in H2O Man's remarkable thread entitled, "Your Move..."
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=321233&mesg_id=321233

While I was familiar with the COG plan and North's involvement, it was not until I read this book that I understood more fully. I'll repost these excerpts for others to read. It is important, IMHO, that readers understand this recent Presidential Directive within the historical context, especially considering the players involved.

If anyone in America had the government experience to respond to a terrorist attack upon Washington, it was Cheney. As President Ford's deputy chief of staff and then chief of staff, Cheney had mastered the inner workings of White House operations right down to the salt shakers and plumbing. In Congress he had worked on the House Intelligence Committee, learning how the CIA and America's several other intelligence agencies operate. As defense secretary he had been in charge of the U.S. armed forces. Above all, although almost nobody knew it, during the 1980's Cheney had been one of the leading participants in the highly classified planning to maintain continuity of government and set up a new presidential chain of command if America was under nuclear attack. Rise of the Vulcans: The History of Bush's War Cabinet by James Mann, Chapter Nineteen

More:

At least once a year during the 1980's, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld vanished. Cheney was still working diligently on Capital Hill, and Rumsfeld remained a hard-driving business executive in Chicago. Yet for three of four days at a time, no one in Congress knew where Cheney was, nor could anyone at Rumsfeld's offices locate him. Even their wives were in the dark; they were handed only a mysterious Washington phone number through which they might relay messages in case of emergencies... ...After leaving their day jobs, Cheney and Rumsfeld usually made their way to Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington. From there, in the middle of the night, each man, joined by a team of forty to sixty federal officials and a single member of Ronald Reagan's cabinet, separately slipped away to some remote location in the United States, such as a discarded military base or an underground bunker. A convoy of lead-lined trucks carrying sophisticated communications equipment and other gear made its way to the same location.

Rumsfeld and Cheney were principal figures in one of the most highly classified programs of the Reagan administration. Under it, the administration furtively carried out detailed planning exercise to establish a new American "president" and his staff, outside and beyond the specifications of the U.S. Constitution, in order to keep the federal government running during and after a nuclear war with the Soviet Union. Over the years a few details about the existence of this Reagan-era effort have come to light, but not the way it worked or the central roles played by Cheney and Rumsfeld... ...This was not some abstract textbook plan but was practiced in concrete, thorough and elaborate detail. The Reagan administration assigned personnel to three teams...Each team included an experienced leader, who could operate as a new White House chief of staff. The obvious candidates were people who had already served at high level in the executive branch, preferably with experience in the national security apparatus. This was where Cheney and Rumsfeld came in since they had previously served as White House chief of staff in the Ford administration. Besides Cheney and Rumsfeld, who were regulars, other team leaders over the years included James Woolsey, later the director of Central Intelligence, and Kenneth Duberstein, who worked for a time as Reagan's real-life White House chief of staff.

~snip~

... Reagan's secret program set aside these constitutional and statutory requirements under some circumstances; it established its own process for creating a new American president, ignoring the hierarchy of presidential succession established by law... ...Reagan established his continuity of government program under a secret executive order. According to Robert McFarlane, who served for a time as Reagan's national security adviser, the president himself made the final decision on who would head each of the special teams, such as Cheney and Rumsfeld. Within Reagan's National Security Council, the "action officer" for the secret program was Oliver North...Vice President George H. W. Bush was given authority to supervise some of these efforts, which were run by a new government building in the Washington area...and a secret budget...used to buy advanced communications equipment (apparently, some of the info about this secret program came about because of allegations of waste and abuses in awarding these communications contracts to private companies--Emit)


...Cheney and Rumsfeld were familiar with the Armageddon exercises of the Reagan era. They themselves had practiced all the old drills... ...except for Rumsfeld's brief stint as Middle East envoy, neither he nor Cheney ever served in the Reagan administration. Nevertheless, as team leaders Cheney and Rumsfeld played important roles in this project...Moreover, their participation in these Reagan-era exercises demonstrated a broader underlying truth about Cheney and Rumsfeld: Over three decades, from the Ford administration onward, even when they were out of the executive branch of government, they were never too far away; they stayed in touch with its defense, military and intelligence officials and were regularly called upon by those officials. Cheney and Rumsfeld were, in a sense, a part of the permanent, though hidden, national security apparatus of the United States, inhabitants of a world in which presidents may come and go, but America always keeps on fighting. Rise of the Vulcans: The History of Bush's War Cabinet by James Mann, Chapter Nine

[paparush]

21. Congress must Check this horrific imbalance of Power!!!

[ryanus]

31. Are DU members ready to embrace 9/11 conspiracy theories yet?

Just wondering. How much more evidence do you need that this administration realy, really is up to no good?

by their fruits ye shall know them...

[BuyingThyme]

38. It's not the members.

[bdamomma]

81. and I'm sure that they will have no remorse to kill even more

Americans, haven't they abused us enough??? They just don't care.

[McCamy Taylor]

32. This is so Cheney can declare war on Iran. They must have 9-11 II planned.

I wonder what they have targetted? Congress?

[bdamomma]

108. I wonder this myself, I am thinking DC.

[BuyingThyme]

34. Wow, Solara! That is one beautiful piece of writing.

So much said in so little space.

Thank you.

[solara]

65. Thank you for taking the time to read it

I really appreciate your input :hi:


INVESTIGATE IMPEACH INDICT IMPRECATE INCARCERATE :banghead:

[rasputin1952]

37. Back when Clinton was about to leave office, there was a

huge outpouring of RW sentiment that Clinton would not leave the WH willingly, of course, he followed his predecessors and left w/dignity and grace. If there were ever anyone that would have to be pulled out of the WH is is Little Boots. Just the thought of something so draconian is mind boggling, not to mention unconstitutional. I'm sure he talked to Gonzo about this, but that shyster has no knowledge of law, especially Constitutional Law, and the G-man probably said it was fine. No doubt Little Boots also got w/Scalia and Roberts to check it out as well, but even the Patriot Act is unconstitutional to most sane people, so I'm sure that Scalia and Roberts said if the PA went through unchallenged, this was a cake-walk.

For this little twerp to even think he could get away w/something like this, he has lost his mind completely.
Fear is born of ignorance. "No hero is braver than any other man, they are just brave 5 minutes longer". Ralph Wa

[The Stranger]

39. Paging the Dick Durbin . . . we need another apology . . .

[AngryOldDem]

41. That is truly scary....

Reichstag fire, anyone? This is too close to the scenario Hitler used to consolidate and concentrate his power. I'm still waiting for the "national emergency" that will cancel or postpone the 2008 election, as well as the move to repeal the 22nd Amendment. I'm convinced that one, the other, or both will happen over the next 18 months. If I'm tin-foil, then so be it.

[southerncrone]

88. I'm right there w/ya'

This meglomaniac & his evil troll minions have no intention of leaving the seat of power. I suspect LA, SF, or Seattle.

[kestrel91316]

44. I've been saying for years that Bush would NEVER willingly leave the WH,

even when his term is up.

Here's how he's gonna pull it off - with this EO.

[BornagainDUer]

45. Shit! When are we going to have to take an oath of fealty???

I used to put tongue in cheek on this. It doesn't seem so far fetched now.

[jazzjunkysue]

46. I just got off the phone with a Schumer rep, and he said it's just

"continuity of government" and clarifies leadership roles.

I told him I don't trust it one bit.

The kid hadn't heard about it before.
I asked him why Bush needs to keep re-writing the constitution. He said it was a clarification.

Is anyone here an expert, who knows for sure that this is a sea change?

[AngryOldDem]

53. I can't answer your question, but...

..I'm extremely disappointed in the Schumer office's reaction to this. If the kid hadn't heard of it, then how the hell could he offer any opinion on it? "We'll get back to you on this" would have been the correct answer.

And to say that blatantly trying to make an end run around the Constitution is "clarifying" it....well, we're in some pretty deep shit, methinks.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

57. OK time to do some calls to your congressmen

[solara]

60. A clarification? Our Constitution has been pretty damn clear up until about seven years ago

Your conversation with Schumer's office does not inspire me with confidence...It's good that you called though..and thanks for posting.


INVESTIGATE IMPEACH INDICT IMPRECATE INCARCERATE :banghead:

[Joanne98]

63. Here's a link that moves you up the staff ladder!

http://www.outsourcecongress.org/outsource/congress/schstaffers.html

[bdamomma]

110. you know for some reason I think these Senators know what is

going on, and they are downplaying the situation to avoid mass hysteria.

[Stardust]

131. "Clarifying the Constiution" sounds like Condi-speak to me. n/t

[madrchsod]

47. i should`t have watched V for vendetta last night

http://vforvendetta.warnerbros.com/

you would think think the democrats and the republicans who don`t lick bush`s boots would put a stop to this nonsense since 75% of the american people are not happy with bush,the war, and most politicians in general. but i doubt they will...the democratic majority in 2008 are looking dimmer and dimmer

[StarryNite]

48. They're cookin' up something

I often wonder what we can do to stop the madness too. I'm sick and tired of our own representatives molly coddling this bunch of evil bastards. No way should impeachment be off the table.

[BikeWriter]

50. Uh, what about the Constitution?

[Rosa Luxemburg]

56. what constitution?

do we still have one?

[TheWatcher]

123. You mean the Goddamn Piece Of Paper?

It is only valid if t=our government enforces it.

Allowing the puppet to do this show clearly that we have been had for quite sometime.

Both parties have failed us.

America need to wake up to one simple fact:

WE ARE ON OUR OWN.

[BikeWriter]

51. Repeat

[bamacrat]

61. The leaders of the House and Senate say impeachment will divide the country...

The previous 30 years of disinformation from the media, as well as the extreme polarization of the country on all issues has divided this country beyond repair. So why the hell no, impeachment might actually bring some pukes to the center and show that this form of total government domination by a single party are not what the country needs in the uber changing world.

I like to say uber.

[Joanne98]

64. They ALWAYS say that!

[Malva Zebrina]

62. The Dems are letting it happen. Period

I am herewith abandoning the party and going back to being an independant. Period.

I am convinced that the Dems are playing with us as much as Bush is and the current candidates for office? It is joke, especially Hillary Clinton and her running mate, Bill.

This system is broken. We the people think,wematter--no we don't. We are given crumbs and think when we go to the polls we are exercising democracy of a kind. We are being steered by the millions upon millions of dollars doanted to a candidate and organisations such as the DLC. We watch the candidates, such as Hillary Clinton, spend those millions upon million upon millions of dollars, making speeches that say nothing---ditto for Obama. Actors, all, with perhaps the exception of Dennis Kuchinic.

Think again--I have and I am not one of those who are complaining about the party and then turns around and says I will vote for whoever the Democratic candidate turns out to be. That to me makes no sense whatsover. It is up to the party to put forth a candidate that is what the people are about. It is not the fault of the voter if he or she decides to can them for lack of balls to address the most important issues of the day--most especially the situation in Iraq.

[Faygo Kid]

69. Yes, and they bent over and took it twice today. When will they stand up?

First it's announced that the Dems are going to cave 100 percent on the Iraq supplemental, removing timetables as well as any legislation that might help the middle class or poor, then Bush comes out swinging about the Gonzalez matter saying that criticism of Alberto is why the public dislikes Washington. He must laugh himself to sleep every night.

Here is an idea: Why not haul Karl Rove's SORRY ASS in front of the Senate and put him under oath? Where's the investigation? Monica Goodling can expect kid glove treatment Wednesday.

I wish to God somebody would kick these bastards in the teeth, but the Dems are too scared to stand on principle. Rush Limbaugh and Fox News might criticize them! Horrors!

[Individualist]

84. As long as our elected dems continue dancing to DLC's tune,

nothing will improve.

[NotGivingUp]

85. I'm with you 100%. n/t

[FailureFries]

67. Was not the Posse Comitatus Act changed

under Chimpy, too?
I could have sworn it was, but don't see anything mentioned in an online search -- Wikipedia, especially.

[solara]

76. Yep. You weren't imagining it

Remarks Of U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy,
Co-Chair, Senate National Guard Caucus
News Conference On The National Guard Empowerment Act
Tuesday, September 19, 2006

The National Guard has delivered for America, over and over again.  The National Guard has played a crucial role in our national defense at home and abroad.  At the high-water mark, the Guard made up almost 40 percent of the troops on the ground in Iraq.  Here at home, the Guard is being routinely called up to support such diverse missions as airport and border security and, of course, disaster relief.

Regrettably, we are here because Congress at this critical moment is on the verge of an outright failure in supporting the National Guard.  Reports continue to trickle out of the conference on the Defense Authorization Bill that House and Senate leaders plan to drop a slimmed-down version of our National Guard Empowerment Act, which will give the Guard more of a voice in the upper reaches of the Pentagon. 

<more at the link>

http://leahy.senate.gov/press/200609/091906a.html

We can add this to the list, unfortunately

INVESTIGATE IMPEACH INDICT IMPRECATE INCARCERATE :banghead:

[frylock]

70. all we need is a catastrophic and catalyzing event..

like a NEW new Pearl Harbor.

[Terri S]

71. FOR CRISSAKES!!!

:mad:

[Up2Late]

73. Unbelievable. I heard about this on Sunday, but didn't realize it was this bad.

Might be time go out and use that 2nd Amendment Right before it's too late.:banghead: :dilemma:

[bdamomma]

111. that is why it's there, WE THE PEOPLE.

[Cobalt-60]

74. you neglected "Incinerate"

They have to be destroyed, all of them.

[solara]

75. I used to include it. along with

'impale'.... but I got in trouble

:hi:


INVESTIGATE IMPEACH INDICT IMPRECATE INCARCERATE :banghead:

[Cobalt-60]

83. Impale...nice

I like that one for them too.
OFC I have the heart of an assasin when it comes to the 'Cons.
They got that the old fashioned way - they earned it.

[UnyieldingHierophant]

77. This seems distrubing, but I'm too preoccupied with internet porn.

:party: illegal codesmilie_remote(':party:')
illegal codesmilie_remote(':party:')

[and-justice-for-all]

78. Out of fucking control!!

Of all things to impeach this asshole for they STILL can not come to the nerve to do it. What the bloody hell is going on!?

UNACCEPTABLE!!

[YellowRubberDuckie]

80. I'm freaking terrified.

It's only a matter of time...
Duckie

[bdamomma]

82. I am getting ready to hear that we have a madman in office

and every man for himself, I wish I could say more but...... Hey Agent Mike, oh, that's right there is no free speech anymore in bushland.

[NotGivingUp]

86. dems & repukes play good cop, bad cop...and none are working for us. nt

[emald]

89. completely agree with the piece

if this country does not stop this bullshit right fucking now then we are toast. freedom and justice are just words without meaning in this country right now. liars and cheaters and criminals run this country. that smirk on *'s face just makes me want to......well i'm not alone I'm sure.
IMPEACH and IMPRISON NOW!
I just don't have words to describe how loathsome a thing it is to lie to start a war. And on a personal level I managed to finish my service to this country and gwbushit just walked away from his commitment. He is a deserter. It appears greed has leveled this country faster than any islamofascist could imagine. Greed.
Is bush the antichrist or what?
I'm having trouble sleeping because of this bullshit missadministration. Idiots and thieves. what a place.

[MiniMe]

90. Has anybody emailed this to their Senators and reps?

I plan on doing that immediately, along with an email to Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi. This has to be nipped before there is something that they can use as an excuse to enact it!

[bdamomma]

109. I think I will fax this to my Senators Whitehouse and Reed.

are they aware of this, this may warrant a call to them.

[milkyway]

91. The key phrases: "regardless of location" and "economy."

(b) "Catastrophic Emergency" means any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions;
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/05/20070509-12.html

This means an incident anywhere in the world that would severely disrupt the U.S. economy...for instance, an action in the Middle East that disrupts the flow of oil. A.J. Soprano was right: Bush is going to bomb Iran.

[nam78_two]

93. K&R.nt

[Ikonoklast]

94. Everything is moving along as planned

This is exactly why they are doing things with impunity, as they just don't care about public opinion. It means absolutely nothing to them.

The Reichstag Fire will take place before the next presidential election.

Personal rights under the Constitution will be 'temporarily' suspended by emergency presidential edict, in the name of 'national security.' It will all be 'legal'.

All Hail The New World Order.

[Major Hogwash]

96. "The Constitution is just a damned piece of paper." - Bush

The founding fathers of this country are spinning in their graves tonight.

[Major Hogwash]

97. In case of catastrophic emergency? What the hell was Hurricane Katrina, if not a catastrophic emerg

This Presidential Directive isn't worth the paper it's written on!

[ArbustoBuster]

98. This "catastrophic emergency" plan is bullpucky.

If we didn't need this kind of thing when the Russians were pointing tens of thousands of nuclear-tipped ICBMs at us, then we sure as hell don't need it now.

[donheld]

99. Why the fuck is this not all over the news?

MSM is in on it too. :grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr:

[TheWatcher]

126. Because the Media is bought and paid for.

And they are IN ON IT.

Wake Up America. Twilight is upon you.

[liberal N proud]

100. Preparing for an event that they can use to enact martial law?

[Vidar]

102. Remember how well it worked when Hitler took over from his generals?

[screembloodymurder]

104. You're right.

They must begin the impeachment process immediately.

[Ensalada]

106. The dems are not interested

in impeachment. they've said it pretty plainly. they're not sticking their necks out for us. they've got their faces planted too firmly in the crotches of Name-Your-Lobby.

if this take-over happens, we the people will be cowed by our American Idol and our tarted-up MSM anchors and our antidepressants and we will just let it happen, the way we have let everything up to now happen. the outrage fades in a day or two for most of us, because we're so caught up in just making ends meet, car debt and health insurance, keeping our families together, holding onto our employment, and taking a break at the end of each long day to read the internet and watch some TV. This is how the system is designed: to create a level of comfort in the middle class, and then to foster anxiety at losing that level of comfort above all other anxieties, and this is why we have let this happen.

or maybe, if there really is any hope in this cowed populace, there will be urban civil war.

of course then i remember all my stupid republican friends talking about all this same stuff in the 90s with clinton and I wonder, am I really just freaking partisan paranoid as they were?

[noiretextatique]

112. no, you aren't being a paranoid partisan

clinton was not perfect by any means, but he wasn't pure evil like the bush cabal. name ONE good thing that's come from the bush administration...just ONE. i can't think of anything.

[bridgit]

113. indeed so, who fiddles now while america is burning?

or do we simply skim our profits however paltry, obscene, however usury, and move on http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x30225

[bdamomma]

114. kick

[Hubert Flottz]

115. The Dictator In Chief has sprang from his closet!

You Vill Seee Nooooothink!

[montanto]

117. The fix is in.

"Our" government doesn't represent us, they represent themselves. They are two halves of the same whole. I don't expect much more than endless war, another MIHOP, and marshal law.

So, where is everybody going to move?

[TheWatcher]

125. Where are you going to run?

This is Global my friend. If you think it is just regulated to us being the bad guys, you have a rude awakening coming. There is nowhere left to run.

[bobthedrummer]

121. It's his way of having everyone outside of the loyal Bushies say "Seig, Heil" or else. eom