Wednesday Rapid Response: "Mr. President, it won't work this time"

Oregon Report — Wednesday, November 16, 2005

It’s hard to know where to begin…here’s just a few of the many stories worth a response:
1. Iraq: stop the insanity
2. Oil fat cats at Cheney’s secret energy meeting
3. Great op-eds: Dionne on Bush’s scare tactics, Oregon lawyer on habeas corpus

1. Iraq: stop the insanity

"Senate demands clarity from Bush"

No matter how Frist, the GOP leadership, and the White House try to spin it—this is a clear repudiation of Bush’s “stay the course” non-strategy.

One quibble with the story (which originated in the Washington Post):
“Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner, R-Va., who wrote the Republican version…”

More accurately: Warner took the Democratic resolution and edited it to water it down. This was a Democratic initiative and it is Democrats who are the true conscience of the Senate. But kudos to all (including Gordon Smith) who voted yes on these resolutions.

Please keep writing:

letters@news.oregonian.com
letters@washpost.com
Contact your elected representatives

Also, there is a brief wire item on p. A9 titled “Rumsfeld evokes Clinton over war.” All this does is regurgitate Rumsfeld’s talking point from a press conference noting that Clinton signed the Iraq Liberation Act in 1998.

The item (likely based on this press release: http://www.dod.mil/transcripts/2005/tr20051115-secdef4301.html ) makes no attempt to put Rumsfeld’s distortions of history into context. A journalist making an ounce of effort would point out (or find someone who could point out) that Clinton’s 1998 offensive took out Saddam’s WMD capabilities—which is why the White House’s 2002-03 claims about Saddam were FALSE.

Let’s ask for complete coverage and accurate journalism, not lazy pushing of press conference talking points:
publiceditor@news.oregonian.com

2. Oil fat cats at Cheney’s secret energy meeting

It’s fascinating to watch the formerly leak-proof Bush White House slowly implode. (Side note, not for letters but just as armchair Kremlinology—perhaps this leak is part of an effort to get Cheney?) Now comes a leak of a document that finally proves oil company executives met in secret for Cheney’s energy policy meetings (from which environmentalists were excluded). Conveniently, the GOP made sure they were not under oath last week when the executives claimed to Congress their company did not participate in those meetings.

The O. has a shorter version of the story; here is the WaPo original, by Dana Milbank and Justin Blum:

This corruption is obscene.
Three cheers to the WaPo for this investigative journalism. They also just uncovered the secret CIA torture prisons. Go WaPo!

milbankd@washpost.com
blumj@washpost.com
letters@news.oregonian.com
letters@washpost.com

3. Great op-eds: Dionne on Bush’s scare tactics, Oregon lawyer on habeas corpus

The O. has two excellent op-eds today. First, EJ Dionne of the Washington Post on Bush’s scare tactics.

Also an Oregon lawyer writes a great column on the bedrock principle of habeas corpus:

letters@news.oregonian.com
Kudos to Dionne: postchat@aol.com

Never give up.
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