>Some guy named Hinderaker can't understand why people are still talking about Valerie Plame. Mr. Hinderaker doesn't care that she was a CIA agent, her identity was revealed, and that act is illegal. However, my statement saying Hinderaker is an idiot is not illegal.
>I am very concerned about this recent news about domestic spying being conducted without warrants. Here are some of the reactions from around the country:
*From the Detroit News: Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., who is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Friday that "there is no doubt this is inappropriate" and that he would conduct hearings to determine why Bush took the action...
*From the New York Times: Our government must follow the laws and respect the Constitution while it protects Americans' security and liberty," said Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee and the Senate's leading critic of the Patriot Act.
*From the Kansas City Star: The Fourth Amendment of the Constitution forbids “unreasonable searches” and sets out specific requirements for warrants, including “probable cause.”
From the St. Peterburg Times: President Bush apparently believes that fighting terrorism justifies any action he chooses, no matter how extralegal. But the United States is a nation of laws, and the president is constrained by them, too. That is why Bush's unilateral authorization granting the National Security Agency the power to wiretap American citizens and others in the United States without a warrant is so dangerously ill-conceived and contrary to this nation's guiding principles.
Congress needs to step in quickly to find out exactly what has happened. Lawmakers must make it clear to President Bush that, as the Supreme Court noted last year, the struggle with foreign enemies does not simply give him a blank check to do whatever he wants...
>Vice President Dick Cheney FINALLY visited Iraq. Cheney had not been to Iraq since BEFORE the war. He is really well-informed. There are entertainers who have visited our service members in Iraq more that Cheney.
>Jeff Gannon (male escort, fake news reporter) apparently doesn't like Ron Reagan, Jr. or MSNBC. Ron Reagan, Jr. and MSNBC must be too intellectual for Gannon's small brain.
>Republican Senator Bill Frist is in even more trouble. He is still being investigated because of his possible insider trading, but now there are questions about his handling of his "charity."
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's AID's charity paid nearly a half-million dollars in consulting fees to members of his political inner circle, according to tax returns providing the first financial accounting of the presidential hopeful's nonprofit.
The returns for World of Hope Inc., obtained by The Associated Press, also show the charity raised the lion's share of its $4.4 million from just 18 sources. They gave between $97,950 and $267,735 each to help fund Frist's efforts to fight AIDS.
The tax forms, filed nine months after they were first due, do not identify the 18 major donors by name...
>If you need something really interesting to read, visit http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_7779.shtml you must see Captitol Hill Blue's article on Bush on the Constitution.
