November 26, 2007 IRAN Links

Today's IRAN Links and as usual, without comment.

• We Have to Keep Pressing Hard Against an Attack on Iran:

  As Bush and Cheney try to whip us into a frenzy about the dangers Iran poses, their argument comes up short. They say Iran is developing nuclear weapons, but Mohamed ElBaradei, director of the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), says there is "no evidence" of this. They say Iran is sending deadly weapons into Iraq to kill U.S. troops, but those devices can be manufactured in any Iraqi machine shop. Now the New York Times reports most of the foreign fighters in Iraq come, not from Iran, but from two Bush allies -- Saudi Arabia and Libya. An estimated 90 percent of suicide bombings are carried out by foreign fighters. And senior U.S. military officials believe the financial support for Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia comes primarily from Saudi Arabia.

Iraq to Seek Long-Term US Presence

So, on a personal basis, how much did you personally pay for this oil deal? And, how will you benefit? Iraq to Seek Long-Term US Presence:

"Iraq's government, seeking protection against foreign threats and internal coups, will offer the U.S. a long-term troop presence in Iraq in return for U.S. security guarantees as part of a strategic partnership, two Iraqi officials said Monday. The proposal, described to The Associated Press by two senior Iraqi officials familiar with the issue, is one of the first indications that the United States and Iraq are beginning to explore what their relationship might look like once the U.S. significantly draws down its troop presence."

November 24, 2007 IRAN Links

Today's IRAN Links and as usual, without comment.

• War Is Peace, Sanctions Are Diplomacy: The White House is pressing ahead with its stated goal of persuading theUN Security Council to pass far-reaching sanctions to punish Iran forrefusing to suspend its nuclear research program. Sanctions are whatPresident George W. Bush is referring to when he pledges to nervous US allies that he intends to "continue to work together to solve this problem diplomatically." The non-diplomatic solution in this framing of the"problem," presumably, would be airstrikes on nuclear facilities in the Islamic Republic.

Action Point with Cynthia Black 11-25-2007: The Reference Shelf

Today's article and item links:

• I TOLD YOU SO FILE (well, I didn't tell you but I told some friends in private): The Bush Administration knew that Pervez Musharraf planned to institute Marshall law: Yes, it does matter. Another American-sponsored dictator struggles in a post 911 world.

  "One of Gen. Musharraf's closest advisers said U.S. criticism was muted, which some senior Pakistanis interpreted as a sign they could proceed," the Journal said. "'You don't like that option? You give us one,' the adviser says he told his American interlocutors. 'There were no good options.”

• CAMPAIGN 2008: Muted Ad Messages Are in Style: As the season heats up you need to know the tactics being used on YOU!

  Mitt Romney talks about bringing up his five boys. Rudy Giuliani says he's not perfect, Hillary Clinton is praised by a grateful man for saving his son's life. In a recent spate of campaign commercials, the leading presidential candidates have tried to send reassuring signals, deflect criticism or denigrate their opponents by relying on code phrases and images, rather than explicit language. "It's the psychological mechanism known as inoculation," says Shanto Iyengar, a professor of communication at Stanford University. "You give people a small dose of the virus, in the hope that later on, when opponents start bashing you on family values or whatever, viewers will have enough of the defense to resist the incoming attacks."

  And then there's this: FOXNews Slips Picture Of Hillary Clinton Into Unrelated Anti-Immigration Story!

• BIG MEDIA: Don 'Nappy Headed Ho's' Imus Is Ba-a-ack -- and So Are His Enablers: No comment:

  It's no surprise that executives of major media corporations rushed to defend Imus by claiming, as did Citadel Broadcasting CEO Farid Suleman, "He's more than paid the price for what he did." After all, as recently noted in the New York Observer, "redemption and rehabilitation are secondary concerns" for Citadel. Phil Boyce, operations manager at the company's flagship station WABC, spelled it out in stark terms, explaining, "Obviously, there are a couple of reasons to look at him, but the biggest reason is the revenue opportunity. There's a lot of money to be made there. And we're in the business of making money."

• ELECTION INTEGRITY: Dirty tricksters caught on video at UC Santa Barbara:

  When Steven Attewell, an eagle-eyed member of the blog Daily Kos, alerted Courage Campaign staffer Erik Love that California Counts petition-gatherers at UC Santa Barbara were gathering signatures to help "children with cancer," he headed out to investigate. And, sure enough, Erik noticed that "children with cancer" was just a sneaky tactic to get people to sign the so-called "Electoral College Reform Initiative" -- what we call the dirty trick initiative.

• INTERNATIONAL: How Will Pakistani Conflict Impact the World?

  There are two distinct conflicts within Pakistan's polity. The first is between rebels along the Afghan border and the Pakistani state, and the second is between pro-democracy forces and Musharraf's military dictatorship. The outcomes of both struggles will affect the rest of the region, with some implications potentially being felt globally. Who is affected by Pakistan's turmoil, and why?

• MUST READ: "Corporate Interests Have Literally Taken Over This Government": another excellent piece from David Sirota (WARNING: Sirota product commercial inserted):

“Some folks have asked me why I have written so much about John Edwards in the past few months. The answer can be seen in this short clip.”

• ENVIRONMENT: North Carolina Student Climate Coalition Convinces State to Revisit Permit on New Coal Plant! When you Do Something, it's not all doom and gloom.

• UPDATE TO THE ANDREW MYERS FILE (aka police over-reactions in a post 911 World): Cop allegedly Tasers driver over speeding ticket: Watch the Youtube video yourself. Oh and by the way: “Signing a speeding ticket is not an admission of guilt, Roden said. He described it as a promise that a motorist “will take care of the citation.”

• SPEAKING OF TORTURE: Canadian terror trial kept secret, groups say: This is not surprising and just because we are not surprised does not mean we should not be outraged. I know about rage fatigue but how fatigued do you think you will be raging against this when it happens to your son? As Robert Greenwald's fabulous films conclude: “Do Something”.

  “The military commissions, which will be conducted at Guantanamo Bay, are the first to be conducted since World War II. It is important that the proceeding in the Khadr case not only be fair but that it be perceived as fair, and that cannot happen unless the public is able to follow and understand the events as they transpire, the five news organizations said.”

• THIS IS BAD (NO, REALLY BAD) FILE UPDATE: Saudi Arabia to Punish Survivor of Gang Rape with 200 Lashes and Prison Term: First, a woman who was raped by six armed men was originally sentenced to receive 90 lashes for "being in the car of an unrelated male at the time of the rape," but after the woman went to the media Saudi Arabia's Higher Judicial Council more than doubled her punishment for "her attempt to aggravate and influence the judiciary through the media." Now, what does Bush have to say about all this?

  “Yesterday, McCormack was asked if the administration’s silence was “driven by a desire not to offend Saudi Arabia as a close ally.” “No, it’s — no, that’s not it at all,” he claimed, but then acknowledged the administration has yet to convey its “astonishment” directly to the Saudis. “I am not aware of any direct contact with the Saudis on this issue,” he said.

• INCOMING: Firefighters taking new role as anti-terrorist eyes of the US government: Does firefighter Scott Ritter know (more importantly, does he 'do') this? “

  Unlike police, firefighters and emergency medical personnel need no warrants to enter hundreds of thousands of homes and buildings each year, which puts them in position to spot behavior that could indicate terror activity or planning.

• PERSONAL SECURITY ALERT: Cellphone Tracking Powers on Request: So it seems that “Federal officials” are “routinely asking courts” to order cellphone companies to furnish real-time tracking data so they can find people they say are bad guys, like drug traffickers, and in some cases judges grant the requests without asking for evidence there is probable cause (isn't that a law-- requiring evidence of probable cause?). If that's not disturbing enough (you knew that telecoms' setting the precedent would create privacy rights “creep”, yes?) there's also this:

  With Verizon's Chaperone service, parents can set up a "geofence" around, say, a few city blocks and receive an automatic text message if their child, holding the cellphone, travels outside that area."Most people don't realize it, but they're carrying a tracking device in their pocket," said Kevin Bankston of the privacy advocacy group Electronic Frontier Foundation.
  

GOP Presidential Hopeful Mike Huckabee Enlists Chuck Norris in Campaign Ad

Okay. This GOP Presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee enlists Chuck Norris in campaign ad, I don't understand:

"The other Republican candidates may have more money and better poll numbers, but Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee isn’t worried about any of that. He is the only GOP contender who can claim support of the imposing force that is Chuck Norris. In a new TV ad set to begin airing this week in Iowa, Huckabee appears alongside the action movie star and cult icon with a warning for voters. “Chuck Norris doesn’t endorse. He tells America how it’s gonna be,” Huckabee says in the new ad."

Isn't it the Hollywood Elite Republicans love to hate? So how is it that not only are they 'users' of the Hollywood gang than any liberal candidate in history-- they have run more of them for office (and won) than any liberal candidate in history.

Oh wait, I know, I have identified "the elite" incorrectly. Norris (Reagan, Schwarzenegger and Thompson) are not (somehow) elite. Even though their bank accounts are swollen by box-office dollars it is not the job or likely even the community that is at issue. It is their politics. Hollywood Republicans and conservatives are not the Hollywood Elite. They are just good 'ol boys (and gals) like the rest of America. They just happen to live, work and trade as actors in Hollywood.

Maybe the Hollywood Elite is a stand-in phrase for Jewish. Hollywood Jews.

Nah. In an Evangelical Post 9-11 world, thinking like that would just be gosh-darned paranoid.

Fox Host Promotes '...Tasing anyone in Code Pink' after Hillary heckled

Another from The Andrew Myer File:

Fox host 'for Tasing anyone in Code Pink' after Hillary heckled: "A Fox News morning host has a novel idea to handle those pesky Code Pink protesters who disrupt political events and Congressional hearings: 50,000 volts of electricity. Brian Kilmead shared his ever-so-evolved views on crowd control Monday morning in a Fox & Friends discussion of a Code Pink-disrupted Hillary Clinton speech. His answer to annoying anti-war types? Tasers or Billy clubs. “They should Tase this guy,” Kilmead says. “At one point with security so high and tensions on edge, don’t you think they’re going to get at the very least Tased or beaten to a pulp by somebody? These people look threatening.”"

And what, exactly, is it about a paunchy middle-aged man or woman in a pink tee shirt that makes him or her "threatening"? Is it the anti-war buttons-- with those sharp pointy pins on the back-- or is it the glint in the eye of a couch potato "gone off the res"? Maybe it's just the notion that some Americans are willing to take the arrest record for that in which they believe, unlike you, 'ya whorin' Fox worm', Kilmead.

US Plans Case Against AP Photographer Now Imprisoned for Over 19 Months

From The Andrew Meyer File*: US Plans Case Against AP Photographer:

"The U.S. military plans to seek a criminal case in an Iraqi court against an award-winning Associated Press photographer but is refusing to disclose what evidence or accusations would be presented. An AP attorney on Monday strongly protested the decision, calling the U.S. military plans a 'sham of due process.' The journalist, Bilal Hussein, has already been imprisoned without charges for more than 19 months. A public affairs officer notified the AP on Sunday that the military intends to submit a written complaint against Hussein that would bring the case into the Iraqi justice system as early as Nov. 29. Under Iraqi codes, an investigative magistrate will decide whether there are grounds to try Hussein, 36, who was seized in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi on April 12, 2006."

*The Andrew Meyer File refers to authority over-reactions promoted and defended in a post 911 World. "Files" such as this are items listed on the Action Point weekly show newsletter sent out prior tot the weekly broadcast Sunday on 1480 KPHX.

Action Point with Cynthia Black 11-18-2007: The Reference Shelf

Today's article and item links:

• From the Mukasey Fle: Bush Ushers in Mukasey, Defends Gonzales: Now watch this guy — very carefully.

• The Guliani File: News Corp And Fox News Have A Long, Chummy Relationship With Rudy Giuliani and Pat Roberston Conquers the Martians: "Robertson's proclamation of support for Rudy Giuliani was another classic moment of nonsensical silliness by another of America's holy blowhards.”
  

• The "President John Edwards" File: John Edwards: 'We Need Paper Ballots' and speaking of Election Integrity: Ballot Petition Fraud Occuring in Support of California's Republican Electoral College Initiative?

• Big Baby on Board: Bush to take aim at judicial confirmation process: Bush whines: '...too many Beltway insiders “interpret ‘advise and consent’ to mean ‘search and destroy.’ While you read just remember these phrases: “Activist judges” and “Litmus test”.

• I Think I'm Going to Scream Now: The Hollywood Prayer Network: From their “About Us” page: THPN is a non-denominational Christian prayer ministry for the purpose of praying for the people, the projects and the powerful influence of the Entertainment Industry. HPN believes that by mobilizing global prayer we can be a part of God's miraculous work of changing the spiritual climate of Hollywood, from the inside out. Will you join us in praying for Hollywood?

• MUST READ: Election '08 Meets The Great Education Myth: another excellent piece from David Sirota:

“Regular readers know my frustration with what I previously deemed The Great Education Myth in an op-ed for the San Francisco Chronicle. This myth, omniscient in our media and political debate, states that America's problem with stagnating wages, job loss and benefits cuts is a problem of education. If only workers were better educated, the myth goes, their economic problems would be over.”

• ENVIRONMENT: Governors Join in Creating Regional Pacts on Climate Change: “Frustrated with the slow progress of legislation in Washington on energy and global warming, the nation’s governors have created regional agreements to cap greenhouse gases and are engaged in a concerted lobbying effort to prod Congress to act.”

• Update to The Andrew Meyers File (aka police over-reactions in a post 911 World): No comment.
  

“A Victoria man who filmed Robert Dziekanski's dying moments at Vancouver International Airport last month says the Polish immigrant was surrendering himself to police when officers shocked him with a Taser.

On Tuesday, Paul Pritchard said police piled on to the 40-year-old after he fell to the ground, and one officer dug his knee into the back of Dziekanski's neck until he went limp.

"On the video you will see some things that I didn't talk about before because I didn't see them until I reviewed the tape," Mr. Pritchard said in an interview Tuesday. "It's really brutal."

• Speaking of Torture: U.S. Army reiterates waterboarding ban: “With Congress' approval of a new attorney general who refused to describe waterboarding as torture, the U.S. Army has sent out a message to its leaders repeating that the interrogation technique is prohibited in the military.” Which is why of course, we have Blackwater!

• This is Bad (No, Really Bad) File: Saudi Arabia to Punish Survivor of Gang Rape with 200 Lashes and Prison Term: (From Alternet) “Yes, you read that right. A woman who was raped by six armed men is being punished by our BFF Wahhabists in Saudi Arabia. Huzzah for our awesome ally!”

“The 19-year-old Shiite woman was originally sentenced to receive 90 lashes for "being in the car of an unrelated male at the time of the rape," but after the woman had the unmitigated temerity of not unquestioningly submitting to being tortured as punishment for "getting herself raped," judges on Saudi Arabia's Higher Judicial Council more than doubled her punishment for "her attempt to aggravate and influence the judiciary through the media."

• INCOMING: Secrecy provision buried in appropriations bill: Read it and weep.

• Weird: Lasers, Helmet Cams Ordered for U.S. Convoy Guards “The State Department plans to equip its motorcade security details in Iraq with lasers to "dazzle" suspect motorists and helmet cameras to record it all.”

• The Good News File: American students seek true view of Middle East "It's funny how it's different. It's just not a scary place at all," said University of Illinois student Anne Shivers, whose worried older brother offered her $400 not to come to Cairo. "I've explained it to my parents but they still don't believe me," she added.

• Arts and Leisure: A HuffPost Project: Posterizing the Modern GOP: These are so good my computer now sports one as background...
  

"Silverstein, who as co-chairman of Goodby, Silverstein, and Partners was behind the famous "Got Milk?" ad campaign and the Budweiser frogs, had such a grasp of what makes for effective communication in radio, movies, TV, and online, that I thought he might have some ideas on how to help the Democrats, who continue to struggle with framing an election where they are holding all the cards. He did... The result is three powerful posters that simply but graphically capture the lunacy of the modern GOP.”

November 16, 2007 IRAN Links

Today's IRAN Links and as usual, without comment.

• Iran more transparent, increases atomic drive: Iran has made important strides toward transparency about its nuclear activities but key questions remain unresolved and it has significantly expanded uranium enrichment, a U.N. report said on Thursday.
  

• U.N. agency: Iran withholding facts on current nuclear program: Iran has answered more questions about the history of its nuclear program, but is still restricting access to its current nuclear work and expanding its enrichment of uranium in defiance of the U.N. Security Council, a U.N. watchdog agency reported Thursday. --SNIP --The International Atomic Energy Agency said that Iran hasn't provided "full transparency" about its current activities and now has nearly 3,000 operating centrifuges — the number required to produce in one year enough enriched uranium for a nuclear weapon.

• A New Sanctions Bill, Surprise, Surprise: On November 13, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) introduced HCR 257, a concurrent resolution expressing concern regarding arms transfers to Iran and Syria by the Russian Federation andentities in the Russian Federation and urging the President of theUnited States to implement sanctions against such entities found to be in violation of United States law prohibiting arms transfers to Iran and Syria. It was referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Calif.), Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) and Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla.) are all original co-sponsors on the bill. The text of the legislation is not yet available in Thomas, but I'll post when it is.

• Iranians and Americans Take Diplomacy Into Their Own Hands: To facilitate people-to-people diplomacy, Enough Fear designed an action to connect Americans and Iranians who otherwise would never have the opportunity to talk with each other. Yesterday, they launched their first diplomatic hotline in Boston Commons which gave the opportunity to passers-by to speak directly to someone in Iran.

Hat tips: Unfiltered News Network, Iran Nuclear Watch

Send a Letter to Nancy - Put Impeachment back on the table !

Nancy Pelosi is reported to have replied to the question of impeachment that if she received 10,000 hand written letters she would proceed with it. What are we waiting for? Letters should go to her SF office.

Nancy Pelosi
450 Golden Gate Avenue, 14th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94102

Phone: (415) 556-4862

Looking for something inspirational to say? An Action Point listener sent me this eloquently reasoned appeal he emailed to Conyers earlier this week:

Impeaching a high federal official for high crimes and misdemeanors - and other conduct and misuse of power incongruent with the office held - is not only a power of the legislature, but a constitutional duty. It is not a distraction to the work of Congress; it is the work of Congress. Impeachment by the House is not just an indictment, but the only way to break through the stone wall erected around the White House and enable real investigation of malfeasance and effective oversight to be performed. If the "discovery phase" of hard evidence gathering prior to a Senate trial verifies the alleged wrongdoing, the accused will be convicted. Otherwise the accused will be acquitted. Either way, justice is done and the rule of law is upheld. The founding fathers felt so strongly about protecting our democratic republic from would-be kings usurping Executive powers, they included the provision for impeachment in the Constitution six times. It was not by accident. Please, for the sake of our democracy, impeach Dick Cheney.

"Impeachment is not a Constitutional Crisis. Impeachment is the Cure for a Constitutional Crisis." - John Nichols


UPDATE 11-12-2007 from The Free Press, Cindy Sheehan wrote this:

Dear Friends

Instead of sending your impeachment letters for Dick Cheney to Nancy Pelosi's office, send them to my office so we can get an official count.

Please send them to:
Cindy for Congress
RE: Impeach Dick Cheney
1260 Mission Blvd
San Francisco, Ca 94103

Please pass this around and have them sent by Friday, November 16th and we will have them delivered to her office in San Francisco before Thanksgiving.

Spread this far and wide so we can take sacks of letters to her.

Don't include anything besides the letter.

Action Point with Cynthia Black 11-11-2007: The Reference Shelf

Today's article and item links:

• From the Mukasey File: The religious right hated him but he was Giuliani's BFF. Senators clashed with him on torture, but still he was confirmed. I tried to spread the truth. Oh well.

• MUST READ: In Iowa Speech, Edwards Demands Answers From Clinton On NAFTA Expansion and Taking On the Right's Local Machine & Fighting Against the Class War: another excellent piece from David Sirota:

This week, I participated in a televised debate against the ColoradoHouse Republican Whip, moderated by the president of the Independence Institute (Colorado's local version of the ultraconservative Heritage Foundation). The debate was aired statewide on PBS here, and it shows how our states and local communities - not just Washington, D.C. - are often the most important frontlines in both the Great American Class War and the battle against the extreme right.

• Framing the Debate: Media Derelict On Damning Giuliani Scoop: from Jeffrey Feldman, considers how to get past Giuliani's 'Strong on Terrorism' frame.

• Update to The Andrew Meyers File: Police over-reactions supported in a post 911 World: ACCIDENTAL HANGING: Medical Examiner Ann Bucholtz's autopsy of Carol Anne Gotbaum finally released.

• Speaking of Torture: This NY Times piece was forwarded to me via email (note the date): Liberties; President Frat Boy? By MAUREEN DOWD

We've all been exhausted by the faux culture wars of the Clinton era.

--SNIP

The leader of the frat pack is Mr. Bush, who made his debut in The New York Times in 1967 in a story about ''frat-branding'' at Delta Kappa Epsilon, the Yale fraternity of which he was once president.

SNIP--

Frat prankster George told Mr. Weisman that he was amazed that anyone was making a fuss about the branding, that at colleges in Texas they used cattle prods on pledges. There's something that doesn't compute about branding irons and Yale. If there did have to be branding, shouldn't it have been less Animal House and something more discreetly WASPy, like the logos for J. Press or Topsiders?

Later, in a newspaper interview, W. explained away the incident, saying, ''There's no scarring mark physically or mentally.''

SNIP--

At the 30th reunion of the Yale class of '68 last year, there was disappointment that Mr. Bush did not show up and excitement about his plans to run for President. But his buddies were quick to assure everyone, ''George has really changed a lot since Yale.''

Presumably, if frat-branding becomes an issue in his campaign, Mr. Bush will be able to spin the incident by saying that it proves, even better than pork rinds, that he is a true Texan.

Oh, had we known then what we know now...

Vote Caging Prohibition Act-- Endorse it!!!

Fabulous news!!!

Challenging a person’s right to vote because a letter sent to him or her was returned as undeliverable would be illegal under a Senate bill introduced today. U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) joined 12 other senators to unveil legislation aimed at preventing the practice of “voter caging,” a long-recognized voter suppression tactic which has often been used to target minority voters.

SNIP--

Senators Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), John Kerry (D-Mass.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Barack Obama (D-Ill.), Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) joined Whitehouse as cosponsors of the Caging Prohibition Act. To date, the bill has also been endorsed by the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and People for the American Way.

Hat tip-- Mark Crispin Miller

Cheney Impeachment to go to Judiciary!!

House tied in knots over resolution to impeach Cheney

Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, is trying to impeach Vice President Cheney for what he describes as "high crimes and misdemeanors" before the invasion of Iraq.

Right after the proposal was read on the House floor this afternoon, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer stepped forwarded and tried to convince lawmakers to table the bill.

"Impeachment is not on our agenda. We have some major priorities. We need to focus on those," Hoyer told Fox News.

Update at 3:39 p.m. ET: We thought that the vote to table was over -- the clock said 0:00 -- but lawmakers are still switching things around and Kucinich is within a few votes of getting his bill to come up for a vote.

Update at 3:43 p.m. ET: At least 149 Republicans have voted in favor of considering the impeachment resolution. Hoyer's motion, which would have blocked a vote, looks like its going to fail by at least 31 votes.

Update at 3:53 p.m. ET: The 15-minute vote began at 2:53 p.m. ET. It's been an hour, and they're still voting. The tally stands at 170-242 right now. Hoyer needed 218 votes to push the bill off the agenda. He's 72 votes short.

Update at 4:02 p.m. ET: Hoyer's motion failed 251-162. The House is now voting on whether to vote on whether the resolution should be sent to the Judiciary Committee.

Update at 4:25 p.m. ET: The vote to decide to vote (yes, you read that correctly) just ended. By a 218-194 margin, the House has to vote on whether to send the resolution to the Judiciary Committee. That's happening right now.

Update at 4:30 p.m. ET: Perhaps we should pause to explain. When most Republicans unexpectedly -- and on orders of GOP leadership, the AP is reporting -- switched sides and voted against tabling the measure, they essentially forced Democrats to keep talking about it on the floor. Tabling the measure would have killed it.

Debate over Cheney's impeachment is in direct opposition to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's wishes. She has repeatedly said an impeachment of Cheney or President Bush is off the table. Thus, failing to table this measure is a essentially a jab in Pelosi's ribs.

"We're going to help them out, to explain themselves," Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, told the AP of the impeachment's supporters. "We're going to give them their day in court."

Update at 4:32 p.m. ET: The House just voted, 218-194, to send the resolution to the Judiciary Committee. That should end today's debate -- but it does keep the resolution at least technically alive.

Action Point with Cynthia Black 11-04-2007: The Reference Shelf

Today's article and item links:

• From the Giuliani File: Councilman Gioia "I will do everything in my power to get answers, to get the truth"

  "...we have been working with the good folks at Brave New Films to get the New York City Council to investigate the way the administration of Rudy Giuliani handled the replacement and deployment of the FDNY radios that proved to be such a source of tragedy on 9/11. We delivered a petition urging action with almost 20,000 signatures to Councilman Eric Gioia on Monday and were very pleased at his initial reaction. Today we have even more video of the Councilman stating in very strong terms that he not only supports such an inquiry but is doing all he can to get the ball rolling.

• MUST READ: Bush Threatens to Veto Aid to Workers Harmed by Outsourcing: another excellent piece from David Sirota:

  At the same time the White House is pushing to vastly expand the job-killing, wage-destroying NAFTA trade model, we get this from
  Bloomberg News (full story attached below):
  "President George W. Bush may veto legislation to expand benefits for
  workers harmed by international trade because it would cover more
  workers than necessary

• Framing the Debate: The Real Meaning of 'Free Press': from Jeffrey Feldman,
  

• From the "I Think I'm Gonna Scream Now" File: Theocracy Now! Max Blumenthal keeps his eye on the wackadoodles so you don't have to...

• Update to The Andrew Meyers File: Don't Tase Me 'Bro Student Won't Be Charged: and his future with Greg Palast!

• Foreign Policy File: Putting the 'Israel Lobby' in Perspective and from Iran Nuclear Watch: Another Letter to the President on Iran

• FASCISM WATCH: Debt and Development, Presidential-Style: in the not-too-distant past Greg Palast and I discussed just this topic:

  "Co-reported alongside the news that Hunt Oil Company of Dallas had entered into an oil development contract in Iraqi Kurdistan was the fact that Hunt Oil's head honcho was a multi-million dollar contributor to the planned George W. Bush Presidential Library project."

• No Explanation Needed: Scholar links Bush's US and Hirohito:

  A top US scholar of wartime Japan said Wednesday that the Bush administration's "war on terror" bore close parallels to Japan's past militarism through a defiance of international law.
  
  Herbert Bix, who won the Pulitzer Prize in 2001 for his landmark biography of wartime emperor Hirohito, said he believed US aerial bombings and alleged use of torture in Afghanistan and Iraq constituted war crimes.
  
  "The current American rampage in Iraq and elsewhere, not to mention the Bush administration's threats of war against Iran, so clearly replicates Imperial Japan during the period when its leaders willfully disregarded international law and pursued the diplomacy of force," Bix said during a visit to Tokyo.

November 01, 2007 IRAN Links

Today's IRAN Links and as usual, without comment.

• The Israeli ambassador to the United States, Sallai Meridor, let the cat out of the bag while speaking at the American Jewish Committee luncheon on Oct. 22. In remarks paralleling those of Rice, Meridor said Iran is the chief threat to Israel. Heavy on the chutzpah, he then served gratuitous notice on Washington that countering Iran's nuclear ambitions will take a "united United States in this matter," lest the Iranians conclude, "come January '09, they have it their own way."

Code Pink, Again to the People's Cause

Code Pink Action:

"Activists Trick-Or-Treat At FCC WASHINGTON -- October 31, 2007: Interrupting FCC Chairman Kevin Martin's opening remarks at Wednesday's FCC localism hearing was a woman dressed in a skimpy French maid's outfit, who successfully fended off two security guards' efforts to oust her from the room. Samantha Miller, appearing on behalf of anti-consolidation group Code Pink, added some activist touches to her Halloween costume by writing the word faux in marker across her bosom, along with references to major media outlets like ABC, Viacom, and Disney elsewhere on her body. While a pair of FCC security guards attempted to escort her from the FCC's meeting room, where Wednesday's hearing was held, Miller's increasingly vocal questioning as to why she was being asked to leave, support from her fellow Code Pink members, and an ever-growing group of assembled press led the guards to acquiesce and allow Miller to stay. "