==> The Truth About Political Stuff <==: 06/13/2004

Friday, June 18, 2004

THE TIMETABLE: To the Minute, Panel Paints a Grim Portrait of Day's Terror

NY TIMES
June 18, 2004
THE TIMETABLE
To the Minute, Panel Paints a Grim Portrait of Day's Terror

This detailed timetable of the events of 9/11/01 shows a frighteningly unprepared, disorganized, defense system and an unprepared, confused, President and his administration. No one was in charge. No one knew what was going on even after the general public knew what was going on.

Only one person, finally, but sadly too late for many, made a command decision at 9:42AM -- F.A.A. Operations Manager Ben Sliney, who "ordered all F.A.A. sites to direct all airborne aircraft to land at the nearest airport, the first such action in the nation's history. About 4,500 aircraft soon landed without incident."

Complete story at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/18/politics/18minutes.html

Thursday, June 17, 2004

U.S. jobless rate misses "hidden" unemployed

Mon Jun 14, 2004 09:57 AM ET

By Victoria Thieberger

NEW YORK, June 14 (Reuters) - Buried inside the official U.S. employment report each month is a little-known figure that gives a much less rosy picture of the labor market than the headlines.

The government agency that produces the data also publishes an alternative measure that tries to capture the hidden unemployed, those who are not included in the official unemployment rate for various statistical reasons.

That broader measure is dramatically higher, at 9.7 percent in May, compared with the official level of 5.6 percent.

Full story at:

http://www.reuters.com/financeNewsArticle.jhtml?pe=bondsNews&storyID=5415670

Wednesday, June 16, 2004

9/11 Commission: No credible evidence of link between Iraq and al-Qaida - contradicts Bush and Cheney

September 11 Panel: bin Laden Rebuffed by Saddam

(Washington, DC -WABC, June 16, 2004) The commission investigating the September 11 attacks found "no credible evidence" of a link between Iraq and al-Qaida in attacks against the United States. The findings contradict President Bush's assertion that such a
connection was among the reasons it was necessary to topple Saddam Hussein.

It says a senior Iraqi intelligence official met with bin Laden in 1994 in Sudan, and bin Laden "is said to have requested space to establish training camps, as well as assistance in procuring weapons, but Iraq apparently never responded."

"There have been reports that contacts between Iraq and al-Qaida also occurred after bin Laden had returned to Afghanistan, but they do not appear to have resulted in a collaborative relationship," the report said. "Two senior Bin Laden associates have
adamantly denied that any ties existed between al-Qaida and Iraq."

As recently as Monday, Vice President Dick Cheney asserted that Saddam had "long-established ties" with the terrorist network.

There is one point upon which the 9/11 Commission and the Bush administration agree: The commission says al-Qaida remains poised to attack the United States in a devastating chemical, biological or "dirty bomb" attack.

Tuesday, June 15, 2004

HALLIBURTON - Play Contractopoly

HALLIBURTON
Play Contractopoly
(http://www.americanprogress.org/contractopoly)

Last September, Vice President Dick Cheney appeared on national television and denied that he had any advance knowledge of or involvement in lucrative government contracts given to his former employer, Halliburton. Cheney said, "I have absolutely no influence of, involvement of, knowledge of in any way, shape or form (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101040607-644111,00.html)
of contracts led by the [Army] Corps of Engineers or anybody else in the Federal Government." But Cheney wasn't telling the truth. In a letter to the vice president on Sunday, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) reveals that the vice president's chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby " was briefed in October 2002 about the proposal (http://www.house.gov/reform/min/pdfs_108_2/pdfs_inves/pdf_admin_halliburton_contract_inves_june_13_let.pdf)
to issue the November 11 task order [contract] to Halliburton." Earlier this month, Time Magazine unearthed an e-mail which indicates that a $7 billion no-bid contract awarded to Halliburton on March 8, 2003 was " coordinated (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101040607-644111,00.html)
" with Cheney's office. Pentagon officials now acknowledge (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-halliburton14jun14,1,2397635.story)
that Undersecretary of Defense Douglas J. Feith discussed the March 2003 Halliburton contract in advance with Cheney's office. But don't let Dick Cheney have all the fun. Check out Contractopoly
(http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=90056) --
the new interactive game from American Progress that lets you win billions in sweetheart deals from the Bush administration as you rebuild Iraq.

REAGAN - The Legacy's Other Side

REAGAN - The Legacy's Other Side

With the solemn farewell to Ronald Reagan now complete, the right-wing spin machine has ramped up efforts to whitewash the Reagan record. Despite glowing media coverage last week of the Reagan presidency which downplayed contentious issues, radio host Rush Limbaugh continues to browbeat the media for its supposedly negative coverage of the Reagan record (http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_060704/content/truth_detector.guest.html). But as journalist William Greider notes, the Reagan presidency is one "the major media, draped in mourning, is solemnly fictionalizing (http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/177122_greider13.html)." The phenomenon is similar to the media's coverage of Reagan in the 1980s, where the actor-turned-president "spun [the media] around brilliantly, used the White House reporters and cameras as hapless props in his melodrama, ignored the tough questions and stuck unyieldingly to his cripted version of reality." But while conservatives like Vice President Dick Cheney claim " what lingers from [Reagan presidency] is almost all good (http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/06/20040609-48.html)," beneath the hyperbole remains a legacy rife with controversy.

More details at http://www.progressreport.org