Former UN inspector fears attack on Iran

Are the Bushies still planning a military strike on Iran? Scott Ritter thinks so.

The former United Nations weapons inspector in Iraq from 1991-98, who left his position after frequent disagreements with the Clinton administration, Ritter now sees many parallels between the run-up to war in Iraq and the current drumbeat for military action against Iran.

"Let's keep in mind if we attack Iran we're guilty of no more than what we're already guilty of in attacking Iraq," Ritter said. "Hyping up a threat where one doesn't exist, going to war void of any legitimacy, violating everything we claim to stand for."
Read the entire Ritter interview here.
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Barking Back: Top Reader Comments

Terry in Pittsburgh on Veterans Repaying Enlistment Bonuses:
"I have a relative that has had a terrible time receiving his proper benefits since returning from Iraq two years ago. He has had to fight tooth and nail for everything, but at least he did not have to pay back his enlistment bonus. What a travesty."

Carter McCoy on Huckabee and the GOP:
"Huckabee is the real deal. He almost HAS to be the GOP nominee. He is the only candidate that can appeal to the party's core conservative voters. Does anyone think the Gary Bauer crowd is going to get behind Giuliani or Romney?"

Tyler Lewis on Barry Bonds and Steroids:
"Bonds is a cheater and a liar. He has desecrated so many precious records that were held by true heroes like Hank Aaron and his own godfather, Willie Mays. And don't give me the crap about thirty years. If he does any real jail time, it will be minimal."

Bill T. Justice on Meaningless Presidential Debates
"These endless debates are just useless and tell us nothing of any substance about the candidates. The addition of these "infotainment" questions really gets me though. As if anyone taking the time to watch two hours or more of political debate falls into the category of needing a diamonds or pearls or UFO question to be entertained. These guys seem to know nothing about their own audiences."
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Wounded vets asked to repay bonuses

Posted by Scott Cavanagh
Just when you thought the Bush administration's treatment of returning veterans couldn't get any worse, now comes another gem. The U.S. Military is now demanding that thousands of wounded service personnel give back signing bonuses because they are unable to serve out their commitments.

That's right. American soldiers, who have been forced to endure multiple extended tours of duty, continuing attempts to diminish their benefits and limited to non-existent health care coverage, are now being asked to return portions of their enlistment bonuses when battle injuries cause them to leave the service prematurely.

Is it any wonder the suicide rate among our bravest citizens is so outrageously high?
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Quick Hits and Fazed Cookies

Taliban Resurgence
As we approach the fifth anniversary of the occupation of Iraq, the situation in neighboring Afghanistan continues to deteriorate. With the majority of our military bogged down policing an Iraqi civil war that we created, the very group that sponsored, housed and trained the actual perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks is alive and thriving. According to a report in the British newspaper The Independent, more than half of the country is now under Taliban control. The story comes on the heels of similar reports that the fundamentalist group has been slowly gaining power throughout large areas of the country.
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Hillary playing from behind in Iowa; Huckabee surges
For the first time this campaign season, New York Senator Hillary Clinton is facing a real test to her top-dog status in the democratic presidential race. Recent polling in Iowa suggests a dead heat between Clinton and Illinois Senator Barack Obama, with former North Carolina Senator John Edwards only a few points back. At the same time, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee continues to gain support in the Republican race. Despite enormous spending by better funded candidates like Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani, Huckabee has moved into second place in most polls and continues to grow in popularity among core GOP constituents.
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Bark Back Sports: Still more Barry

The thing I disagree with is you keep saying "they" when it's really two different responses to Bonds: the feds, and MLB. MLB is still giving Bonds a pass. The feds, on the other hand, are doing what they usually do, i.e. prosecute public figures when they get the chance. If they had the goods on Palmiero, they would definitely prosecute him, but they can't prove that he lied to Congress.

And as far as Sheffield goes, my understanding is he answered truthfully. So no crime committed.
John T. in Columbus

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Bark Back Sports: BarryBall continues

Sheffield was a BALCO guy, and he even admitted to using the Clear, much in the way Bonds did (with the flaxseed oil bit). Both Byrd and Ankiel were caught through records of deliveries from suppliers and baseball is simply saying "we didn't have a policy against it then". Are the feds planning to chase down those suppliers? Making Bonds the fall guy for BALCO is like giving the drug addict a life sentence and giving the dealer probation.

Yes, the key is that Bonds (like Sheffield) lied to a grand jury. But lying to Congress is also a felony (see Alberto Gonzalez) and no one seems to be pursuing charges against Palmeiro (although the main charges should be against McGwire for wearing those little lawyer glasses and Schilling for -- being Curt Schilling).

Is what Bonds did really worse than what Pete did? I think so, but you can certainly make a case that having a major league manager betting on games and being in debt hundreds of thousands of dollars to gamblers is worse than a player taking performance enhancers. Hell, Gaylord Perry openly cheated for 25 years and he's in the Hall.

The hypocrisy lies in the fact that MLB has feigned concern about this subject only since the publication of Canseco's book, but every baseball fan without his head up his ass knew these guys had been juicing for years. I had friends calling Sosa "Sammy Steroid" before he even had the chase with McGwire. Canseco was being serenaded with steroid catcalls in '88. MLB had no problem raking in the cash that Bonds' HR chase generated last season, yet they did nothing. When did they actually institute the steroid policy, like three years ago?

Bonds, like Pete (without the hustle, charm or championships) is being made an example of, and that's okay by me. But the level of punishment they are seeking is over the top. Obstruction of Justice? How? They did not need Bonds to nail BALCO -- that case was open and shut, due, as you mentioned, to Conte's recklessness and ego. Thank God the president will step in and commute his sentence.

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Bark Back Sports: More on Bonds and 'roids

He (Bonds) happened to have the bad luck of being associated with BALCO, which was run by a very imprudent guy who was reckless and got caught. Every other person you mention got their drugs from...we have no idea. That's the difference. And who's supposedly being hypocritical? Bonds has been indicted by a grand jury, and will be prosecuted by the feds. Major League baseball hasn't condemned him, and won't unless he's actually convicted. I think that's ridiculous, but at least it's consistent.

If Maguire or Sosa or Palmeiro could be linked to a supplier, you can bet the feds would be after him. And you can bet that MLB would be gutless idiots with them too, and not condemn players for cheating unless they were convicted in a court of law.

The real study in hypocrisy is how they handled Pete Rose. Don't get me wrong, I don't disagree with banning Pete...but why did they only go after Pete? What Bonds did was much worse than what Pete did.
John T. in Columbus

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Bonds indictment an exercise in hypocrisy

BARK BACK SPORTS
Baseball's all-time home run king Barry Bonds was charged last week with perjury and obstruction of justice for allegedly lying when he said he did not use performance-enhancing drugs. If convicted on all counts, Bonds could face 30 years in prison.

By Scott Cavanagh
For years, Major League Baseball made millions and millions of dollars off the exploits of steroid users. Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, players whose bodies and statistics literally exploded before our very eyes, were held up as paragons of virtue and hard work, while former singles hitters like Brady Anderson and Rafael Palmeiro became home run bashers -- assaulting the record books like Ruth and Gehrig.

While all of this was going on, those in charge of our national pastime did nothing. Former MVP and current cemetery resident Ken Caminiti claimed in 2002 that at least 50% of all major leaguers were on the juice. He was laughed at and ignored.

Years later, fellow former MVP Jose Canseco published his memoir Juiced, in which he identified the users by name -- Palmeiro, McGwire, Sosa, Pudge Rodriguez -- a virtual who’s who of power-hitting stars. Baseball ignored him as well, until a public outcry led to 2005’s congressional hearings, where Palmeiro, Sosa, McGwire and others either denied ever taking the stuff (Palmeiro), refused to answer (McGwire), or suddenly forgot how to speak English (Sosa).

Within months of his testimony -- in front of Congress no less -- Palmeiro tested positive for steroids. Sosa quickly became a pathetic player who was out of baseball within a year, while McGwire left the public stage so quickly and efficiently he has been harder to find than D.B. Cooper.

Two years ago, slugger Gary Sheffield testified to the same investigators as Barry Bonds that “if” he did any steroids, it was without his knowledge. He also admitted that trainer Greg Anderson -- the same guy that trained Bonds and spent over a year in jail for failing to testify against him -- rubbed some cream (known as “The Clear” for it’s difficulty to detect on tests) on him, but if it was a steroid cream, he was unaware of it.

In just the past couple of months, St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Rick Ankiel and Cleveland Indians pitcher Paul Byrd have been caught ordering years worth of illegal performance enhancing drugs.

Sheffield has received no punishment whatsoever, nor has Palmeiro, McGwire, Sosa or any of the other group of cheating liars. Victor Conte, the founder of the infamous Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative (BALCO) and man behind the entire case against Bonds, copped a plea in 2005 and served a total of four months in jail.

Now Barry Bonds deserves 30 years? Why? Because he's a surly guy that never kissed-up to the media like Sosa and McGwire? Because he's called this witch-hunt for what it is from the beginning?

The hypocrisy runs all the way to the top. President Bush issued a statement last week expressing deep sadness and disappointment over the Bonds situation. What team did Canseco, Sosa, Rodriguez and Palmeiro all play for during the days described in Canseco's book? The Texas Rangers. Their owner at the time -- George W. Bush.

Either everyone is guilty or nobody is. Either every player and provider that has knowingly lied to investigators and the public about steroids deserves investigation and possible jail time, or no one does. Singling out one player because he happens to be the best one is unfair and unjustified.
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Presidential debates becoming meaningless

Presidential debates have long been exercises in media silliness, but the current round of dog and pony shows has moved beyond ridiculous. In 17 debates, featuring over 1,500 questions, only a small handful of those queries involved the candidates' views on the most pressing issues facing the country in the era of Bush and company.

There has been only one question about illegal wiretapping, and not a single one about whether the president should be allowed to order the indefinite detention of American citizens without charging them with any crime. No moderator has mentioned the words "habeas corpus" once. Even after it came to light two weeks ago that the Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program began long before the September 11, 2001 attacks, moderators on both CNN and Fox News avoided the issue completely in the last two debates.

But while those topics were virtually ignored, the network talking heads did manage to ask the candidates what they would "go as" for Halloween and whether it would really be "good for America" to have Bill Clinton living in the White House. NBC's Tim Russert spent his valuable time asking Dennis Kucinich whether he had seen a UFO, while CNN went so far as to have a graduate student change her question for Hillary Clinton from one about nuclear waste to the gem: "Do you prefer diamonds or Pearls?"
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Barking Back: Top Reader Comments

Frank on Rumsfeld and Stanford:
"Hear! Hear! I wholeheartedly agree with your well thought out analysis of the Rumsfeld situation at Stanford University. I for one would be interested in hearing and possibly learning a thing or two from the "Ruminator" himself. A mind is a terrible thing to waste."

John S. on Rumsfeld and Stanford:
"Rumsfeld is a war criminal and a liar. He does not deserve to be allowed to spew his Neocon baloney to classes of college kids. If you want to know Rumsfeld's ideas and strategies, just look at the wonderful situation in Iraq -- and Pakistan and the Turkish border and Afghanistan. There have to be better options for a great school like Stanford."

Carter McCoy on The plight of our veterans:
"Support our Troops" makes a great bumper sticker, but that's all that it is. When are people in this country going to learn that supporting the troops means keeping them out of unnecessary conflicts, giving them the best equipment, the best leadership and the best benefits? We need an entire overhaul of the Pentagon and it's veteran's policies, or our volunteer army will melt down to nothing."

Sheila M. on The plight of our veterans:
"The health care crisis in this country is just out-of-control. To think that a young person that risks his or her life for their country can be denied health insurance because they make $35,000 a year is just amazing. It's no wonder these guys are so disillusioned and depressed."

Terry in Florida on The plight of our veterans:
"It's amazing that Bush and company can continue to send these guys back for second, third and even fourth tours over there, while this mess is going on at home. One-hundred and twenty suicides a week -- that is just a staggering tragedy."

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Quick Hits and Fazed Cookies

War costs: $20,900 per family
When putting together the family budget for the upcoming year, make sure to add the costs of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to the list -- oh, and save a little wiggle-room for Iran.

According to a report released last week by the congressional Joint Economic Committee, the total economic impact of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will top $1.6 trillion in 2009 – or more than $20,000 per every family of four.

The wars are now costing $12 billion dollars every month.
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Tough times for veterans
While civilians are facing challenges in the pocketbook, our veterans are being bombarded from every side -- both in battle and here at home.

According to a new study published in the American Journal of Public Health, nearly two million American veterans are living with no health care. Veterans and their dependents now make up over 12 percent of the nation's uninsured.

Most of the uninsured veterans were working-class people who were too poor to afford private insurance but not poor enough to qualify for care under a priority system administered by the Veterans Affairs Department. Some were unable to get care because there was no V.A. facility nearby, or the nearest facility had a long waiting list, or they could not afford the co-payments required of some veterans.
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Veteran suicide rate "epidemic"
A CBS news investigation into the suicide rate among U.S. war veterans produced startling results.

According to the report, veterans are more than twice as likely to commit suicide as civilians of the same demographics. In 2005, for example, in just the 45 states that provided information, there were at least 6,256 suicides among those who served in the armed forces. That's 120 each and every week for an entire year.
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Bark Back Entertainment: Achy Breaky rip-off

It seems you just can't trust your make-believe artists these days. Fans of the fictional singer "Hannah Montana" got a major dose of reality last week, when the special treatment they were supposed to receive as members of her fan club turned out to be as bogus as the singer herself.

Fans hoping to gain preferential seating to Montana's sold out "Best of Both Worlds" tour were promised special perks if they joined the singer's fan club. A group of those fans filed a lawsuit in a New Jersey court last week, claiming they received no such benefits.

"Hannah Montana" is actually Miley Cyrus -- daughter of "Achy Breaky Heart" singer Billy Ray Cyrus -- and star of the Disney Channel's wildly popular "Hannah Montana" show.
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Stanford: To Rummy or not to Rummy?

When the Hoover Institution at Stanford University announced in September that former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was being appointed to a one-year position as a visiting fellow, it sparked a wave of controversy at the prestigious California school.

Nearly 4,000 students, faculty and alumni have signed a petition to reject Rumsfeld's appointment, and over 100 students took part in a campus protest last Thursday.

Some thoughts on the matter from our Rick Shade:
Defending The Donald
By Rick Shade
I don't really like Don Rumsfeld. That may not come as a surprise to many of you, but while I share space on this page with a lot of lefties, I'm basically an independent centrist, so someone like Rummy does not automatically make my head want to explode.

No, Rumsfeld earned that distinction slowly and surely during his six years at the Pentagon. Everything from his Neocon vision of waging war on-the-cheap, to his treatment of distinguished military men that disagreed with him, to his pissed-off grandpa press conferences, made Bush's Defense Secretary a pretty hard guy to like.

That said, I must admit I was very disappointed in the actions of students, alumni and (particularly) the participating faculty of Stanford University who recently took part in boycotts of Rumsfeld's appointment to a position at the school's Hoover Institution.

Only a handful of living Americans possess the wide depth of first-hand experience and knowledge at the highest levels of government that Rumsfeld does. The only man to hold the top defense job twice, Rummy also has the unique perspective of being both the youngest and oldest person to head the Pentagon.

How can his presence at a political think tank like Hoover be anything but a positive for Stanford -- because he was part of an unpopular administration -- or an unpopular war? If that were the criteria for academic fellowships in political science, we'd be hard-pressed to fill half the nation's positions.

American college campuses should be the most open forums available, with scholars on all sides of the issues representing their beliefs and political ideologies. While I may not agree with Rumsfeld's decisions on many issues, I would still want to hear what he had to say on behalf of his positions, and hopefully learn something in the process -- that's what think tanks are all about.

Students will voice their opinions in protest, as some should in the time of an unpopular war, but the Stanford alumni and faculty that would question Rumsfeld's conviction to his beliefs and patriotism, while robbing their students of an amazing educational resource, should be ashamed of themselves.

The students of Stanford can only benefit from this appointment. Faculty members with political agendas need to remember that and get behind it -- regardless of their personal politics. Freezing Rumsfeld out of this position would be just another brand of political extremism.
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Barking Back: Top Reader Comments

Pauper Paul on administrative orders:
"Bush had the ultimate "white is black, up is down" moment when they announced the plans to use these administrative orders. He said that Congress's failure to act on his agenda was akin to people looking the other way during the rise of Lenin and Stalin. In fact, it was just these types of types of power grabs that gave both of the dictators in question their extreme powers. What a comedy act this guy is."

Terry in Dallas on Rumsfeld's memos:
"It's amazing that Rumsfeld lasted as long as he did in that position, but it is even more amazing that he was not more careful and media savvy with what he said in those memos and how they were distributed. I would have thought he would have been a bit more like Cheney."

Carter McCoy on the manipulation of the press:
"For a long time, the press was out-of-control in this country. Then over the past decade or so they have become scared cowards. The fact that any TV station would air some government propaganda thing without checking it out first is worse than the White House sending it."

Anonymous on the new-look Boston Celtics:
"Garnett, Allen, Pierce -- they are all good players, but the NBA product rots. I'd rather watch a bunch of high school kids than those over-priced bums."

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FEMA press conference no laughing matter

By Scott Cavanagh
The national press has had a field day over the past two weeks poking fun at the Federal Emergency Management Agency's fake press conference touting their own efforts to respond to the California wildfires.
(Watch video of the fake event)

While the prospect of the beleaguered agency going to any lengths to improve it's incredibly tarnished image makes great monologue fodder for Letterman and Leno, it also provides yet another example of the Bush administration's willingness to manipulate both the press and the public with disinformation, propaganda and outright lies.

In honor of The Late Show, here's a Top Ten List of some of the most outlandish examples of the Bushies' habitual pattern of lying to the press and the American people.

#10 The Swiftboating of John Kerry
In August of 2004, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a group financed by George W. Bush's biggest Texas campaign donor, began running ads questioning the validity of Democratic nominee John Kerry's Purple Hearts awarded for injuries suffered while captaining a swift boat in Vietnam.

The attackers claimed they served with Kerry and that the Senator lied to receive his awards, but the veterans who accused Kerry were contradicted by Kerry's former crewmen, and by Navy records.

One of the accusers said he was on a boat "a few hundred yards" away during the incident which won Kerry the Bronze Star, but Jim Rassmann, the former Army Lieutenant whom Kerry plucked from the water that day, backs Kerry's account. In an opinion piece in the conservative Wall Street Journal, Rassmann (a Republican himself) wrote that the ad was "launched by people without decency" who are "lying" and "should hang their heads in shame."

#9 Gay porn site model and escort Jeff Gannon poses as reporter
Gannon appeared in the White House press room in 2003, asking the president softball questions that generally ended with attacks on Democrats. When many in the press corps began to question the validity of Gannon's journalistic background and motives, it was discovered that he was really Jeff Guckert -- a mainstay of gay porn and escort sites who went by the name "Bulldog" and had no journalism background. Although the White House denied any special treatment for Gannon, he was given daily passes to White House briefings, where the president -- who referred to him by his first name -- called on him consistently.

#8 Rumsfeld proposes office of disinformation
In a move right out of the playbook of Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbles, then Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld proposed and created something called the Office of Strategic Influence -- a department that's sole purpose was to disseminate disinformation and manipulate public opinion. When the existence of the department was discovered in 2002, Rumsfeld announced that it was in the process of being dissolved.

#7 Bogus story of the death of Pat Tillman
When Tillman, an Army Ranger and NFL star, was killed in action in April 2004, the Pentagon reported that he had died from hostile fire. The White House wasted no time using Tillman's death as a propaganda tool and Tillman himself as a symbol of America's heroic fight against extremists. It was later discovered that Tillman was actually killed by his own troops in a friendly fire incident. Tillman's parents became so frustrated over the conflicting stories about their son's death, they took their case to Capitol Hill, where the last soldier to see Tillman alive told lawmakers that he was warned by superiors not to divulge -- especially to the Tillman family -- that a fellow soldier had killed Tillman.

#6 Bogus story of the capture and rescue of Jessica Lynch
In March 2003, Army Private Jessica Lynch was injured and taken prisoner when her convoy made a wrong turn in enemy territory. After being transferred to an Iraqi hospital, Lynch was eventually rescued and returned to the United States a hero. Her story of fighting until her capture and enduring physical abuse that included rape was so compelling that both a book and TV movie were made about it. The story of Jessica's ordeal became a prime propaganda tool for the Pentagon, which touted the circumstances and heroic nature of her rescue, as well as the brutality of her captors.

Unfortunately, very little of the story was true. As Lynch herself would later testify to in open public hearings, she actually did not fight at all prior to her capture, as she was knocked unconscious when her vehicle crashed. Lynch also testified that she received no mistreatment during her time in custody and that her "rescue" actually consisted of concerned Iraqis risking their own lives to turn her over to U.S. forces.

#5 Journalist paid $240,000 to hype "No Child Left Behind"
In 2005, a USA Today feature uncovered the fact that conservative columnist and commentator Armstrong Williams was paid over $240,000 in federal tax money to hype the president's "No Child Left Behind" education program. It is later discovered that fellow conservative pundits Michael McManus and Maggie Gallagher received $10,000 and $21,000 respectively from the Department of Health and Human Services to push Bush's Community Health Marriage Initiative.

#4 Fake White House "video news releases" on network TV
Also in 2005, the Bush administration began distributing what they called "video news releases" to television stations across the country. Packaged as if they were real news stories, the pieces used actors portraying both journalists and citizens. One fake segment about the fall of Baghdad featured actors portraying grateful Iraqis saying things like "Thank you George Bush -- thank you U.S.A." Some of the segments ran in the nation's largest markets including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Detroit.

#3 Bush administration censors scientific reports
NASA scientist James Hansen accused Bush appointees of censoring global-warming info and limiting press access to top climate experts. George Deutsch, a 24-year-old writer and editor for NASA who had worked for the 2004 Bush re-election campaign, resigned for lying on his resume. Deutsch also made NASA web masters add the word "theory" to every mention of the big bang.

#2 Cost of the prescription drug program
In the run-up to passage of the controversial Medicare prescription drug bill, the Bush administration maintained that the cost of the program would be $534 billion over the first ten years. This number seemed extremely low to everyone studying the program, but the Bushies maintained that their cost estimates on the giant drug company windfall were accurate. Within a year of it's passage, administration officials revised their numbers to over 1.2 trillion.

#1 The outing of CIA case officer Valerie Plame
On July 14, 2003, a newspaper column titled "Mission to Niger" by long-time conservative columnist Robert Novak disclosed the name and covert status of Valerie Plame-Wilson, a CIA case officer who worked on Weapons of Mass Destruction issues. Wilson's husband, Ambassador Joseph Wilson, stated in various interviews and writings that his wife's identity was revealed to Novak by members of the Bush administration as retribution for an op-ed he had written for the New York Times questioning the President's claim that Saddam Hussein was trying to obtain nuclear material from the African nation of Niger.

A subsequent federal investigation resulted in the indictment and conviction of Scooter Libby, Chief of Staff to Vice-President Dick Cheney. Libby was convicted on four counts of perjury, obstruction of justice and making false statements and was sentenced to 30 months in prison. Immediately following his sentencing, President Bush commuted Libby's sentence, allowing the convicted felon to avoid any jail time.

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Quick Hits and Fazed Cookies

Rumsfeld's Memos
In dozens of internal memos obtained by The Washington Post, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld directly instructed subordinates to "keep elevating the threat level" of the war on terrorism and to do a better job of "linking Iran with Iraq."

The blatant attempts to manipulate public sentiment concerning the Iraq War also called for a PR campaign to frighten the American people by "talking about Somalia and the Philippines and what a scary, dangerous world we live in".

These memos constitute direct evidence of the administration's pattern of governing through fear and disinformation, as well it's long-held (and always denied) desire to target military action against Iraq.
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Poll suggests Hillary gets too much press

Last week's Bark Back poll question -- "Does Hillary Clinton get too much press coverage?" -- indicated most people think the answer is yes. Over 65% of those responding felt the anointed Democratic "front runner" has received far too much coverage in proportion to her fellow presidential hopefuls. Twenty percent felt the coverage of the former First Lady was about right, while 10% thought she received too little.
According to polling by the Pew Research Center, Republicans certainly agree with our results.
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King W to rule by "administrative order"

By Scott Cavanagh
If you thought the Bush administration's habits of illegal wiretapping, abandoning of habeas corpus and endorsing torture were bad enough, prepare yourself for the next stage in the imperial presidency of King George II -- rule by administrative order.

In another effort to completely ignore the legislative branch of government, the administration this week openly touted it's plans to bypass the laws of the land and the Constitution, by implementing a variety of presidential decrees designed to push through all aspects of the Bush agenda.

A Washington Post article titled "To Implement Policy, Bush to Turn to Administrative Orders," reported that "White House aides say the only way Bush seems to be able to influence the process is by vetoing legislation or by issuing administrative orders, as he has on veteran's health insurance, air-traffic congestion, protecting endangered fish and immigration.They say they expect Bush to issue more of such orders in the next several months, even as he speaks out on the need to limit spending and resist any tax increases"

The president's willingness to bypass the law is nothing new. Over the past six years, the use of presidential "signing statements" -- a heretofore little-used caveat that allows presidents to tweak aspects of certain laws to make them more effective -- has gotten so out of control that it has been used by Bush and company to avoid adherence to nearly 30% of all laws passed in that time. In less than six years in office, this president has used signing statements over 800 times to challenge laws he disagreed with -- over two hundred times more than the previous 42 presidents combined.

The use of both signing statements and administrative orders were particularly topical this week, as Congress continued to debate the nomination of Michael Mukasey as Attorney General.

Mukasey's nomination has been stalled over the judge's reluctance to refer to the interrogation practice of waterboarding as torture and his ambivalence concerning the wiretapping of American citizens.

Bush's signing statements concerning torture have made the congressional ban on cruel and unusual punishment almost meaningless, while last week's revelations that the administration used domestic phone companies to illegally spy on Americans prior to 9/11/2001 has come under attack by leaders of both parties.
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Bark Back Sports: New hope for new look Celtics

By Scott Cavanagh
From 1957 through 1986, the Boston Celtics captured 16 NBA titles – an average of four every decade. From Cousy and Russell to Havlicek and Cowens to Bird and Parish, Gang Green was basketball magic -- a flawless machine of excellence that produced championship teams as easily as Hall-of-Fame players.

But the luck ran out in the late eighties. First potential superstar Len Bias died of a heart attack on the very day the Celtics made him the number two overall pick in the 1986 draft. Then the floodgates opened -- Magic's hook shot to seal the '87 crown for LA, Bird's feet, Bird's back, McHale's legs, the death of Reggie Lewis, ML Carr, Rick Pitino -- Antoine Walker. Twenty-two years of basketball purgatory.

Then, as suddenly as it left, the magic reappeared this summer. In a pair of moves that shocked the basketball world, Celtics GM Danny Ainge acquired perennial all stars Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen for what amounted to 12 players -- or the majority of the Boston roster.

Included in the deals were emerging talents Al Jefferson and Delonte West, as well as first round draft pick Jeff Green from Georgetown, but not included was Celtics captain Paul Pierce, whose continued presence gives Boston three legitimate all stars in their basketball primes.

With Lebron James leading a rag tag band of Cleveland castaways to the finals last season, expectations are understandably high for the Celtics' new Big Three, but can the talented trio that's never won big before, gel together and bring another title to Boston -- without a bench?

The new look Celtics begin their quest for a record 17th NBA crown Friday night, when they host the Washington Wizards.
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