CitizenSugar -- Breaking News, Together.

Front Page: Texas Grand Jury Indicts Cheney and Gonzales

CitizenSugar — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 08:00:37 -0800

Vice President Dick Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales will be arraigned on Friday in Texas, after a grand jury indicted them for prisoner abuse in a federal detention center. Cheney and Gonzales will not attend the arraignment. — AP
Barack Obama tapped Janet Napolitano, the Democratic governor of Arizona, to be the Secretary of Homeland Security. Napolitano has a well-received record on immigration, and served as Arizona's first female US attorney, and state attorney general. — CNN
California's Supreme Court has agreed to decide the legality of Proposition 8, which undid the court's previous ruling that legalized same-sex marriage. The court refused to let same-sex marriages resume in the meantime. — San Francisco Chronicle
Fears of a more serious recession have taken a toll on the global stock market. Yesterday the Dow Jones fell five percent, dipping bellow 8,000 mark. — BBC News

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Front Page: Cheney Gives Palin Nod, Fannie and Freddie Takeover, Cairo Rockslide Death Toll

CitizenSugar — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 07:00:01 -0700

Cheney Gives Palin Nod:
From the man who may know best, Cheney says Sarah Palin has no restrictions from being a great vice president. In Italy today, Cheney told reporters that he ''loved'' Palin's speech to the convention, especially tickled by her joke about the difference between hockey moms and pit bulls being a coat of lipstick. He said, ''I thought her appearance at the convention was superb." He went on to add, ''There's no reason why Sarah Palin can't be a successful vice president in a McCain administration.''

Fannie and Freddie Takeover:
The US government takeover of mortgage giants Frannie Mae and Freddie Mac caused stocks to rally in Europe and Asia. A provision in the bailout plan where the Treasury buys Fannie and Freddie securities in the open market has economists optimistic saying, "it means the US is serious about fixing the problems in the market.”

Cairo Rockslide Death Toll:
With reports saying hundreds more could still be buried and 47 left dead, a rock slide has decimated a Cairo shanty town. Eight boulders barreled down from high in the Muquattam hills and rescuers are criticizing authorities for delays in sending heavy machinery. Some are using their bare hands to search for survivors. One survivor says, "We saw a boulder coming down on us, on our houses, on the children, our belongings, and our neighbours and they pulled them out dead. Just as you see, no one has done anything to help since yesterday."

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Can I See Some ID, Sir? Dick Cheney Carded At Voting Booth

CitizenSugar — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 12:07:52 -0700

Can I See Some ID, Sir? Dick Cheney Got Carded at Voting Booth Vice President Cheney got carded. Not for drinking but for voting. It happened at the Teton County clerk's office yesterday in Wyoming, when the vice president, accompanied by his wife and a secret service detail, dropped in unexpectedly to cast an absentee ballot in next Tuesday's primary election. An election worker, Mike Farady, asked the vice president for his driver's license.

Georgian Conflict Created by Cheney to Make Obama Lose?

CitizenSugar — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 08:00:57 -0700

Russians were told yesterday morning that the true nature of the conflict in South Ossetia is this: it's a plot hatched by Vice President Dick Cheney to make sure Barack Obama isn't elected president. Is Cheney creating a Cold War 2.0?

This revelation, that the conflict is orchestrated to wing Obama, was first announced on the radio and has been getting wide play. A senior political analyst close to Putin and Medvedev says, “George Bush's Administration is promoting interests of candidate John McCain. Defeated by Barak Obama on all fronts, McCain has one last card to play yet — the creation of a virtual Cold War with Russia . . . Bush himself did not want a war in South Ossetia but his Republican Party did not leave him any choice.”

The notion has reinvigorated Cold War-era talk like this from a former ambassador to the EU:

The West has spent a lot of time, energy and money to teach Georgia the tricks of the trade . . . to make the country look like a democracy. We and many other nations see through this deceit. We understand that the seditious tactics of the so-called color revolutions are a real threat to international law and the source of global legal nihilism.

To see where this idea came from,

Undercover Tape Shows Meetings With Cheney, Bush For Sale

CitizenSugar — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 06:00:30 -0700

What's an ex-president without a fancy presidential library? And the good ones don't come cheap — the Clinton Library cost $165 million. So it stands to reason, George W. Bush might be looking to fundraise for his — by selling time with senior officials of the Bush Administration — and maybe an endorsement from Bush himself.

According to an undercover tape of Stephen Payne, a top fundraiser and member of the homeland security advisory council, all you need is $750,000 and you’ve got a meeting with Dick Cheney. But that’s not all. If you really ante up, you can meet with George W. Bush himself and walk away with an endorsement in your pocket where your money used to be.

This pay-to-play plot was revealed in an undercover investigation by the London Sunday Times. To see how the Bush endorsement is for sale,

$23 Billion Could Be the Cost of War Profiteering in Iraq

LibertySugar — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 00:00:02 -0700

$23 billion has been lost, stolen, or not properly accounted for in Iraq, according to a BBC News investigation. BBC claims that private contractors have exploited the conflict and reconstruction in a potentially criminal manner. There are 70 pending cases against private US companies for war profiteering, but the details of these cases are being kept mum under a gag order.

The article details that leading up to the war, VP Dick Cheney's former company Halliburton was the only company to bid on a $7 billion contract, which was granted over objections of the most senior Pentagon official on the contracts. The BBC also alleges that Hazem Shalaan, who became Iraq's defense minister, siphoned $1.2 billion out of the ministry by purchasing used Polish weapons but billing them as top class weapons. Shalaan was sentenced to jail but has succeeded in fleeing Iraq.

Estimates suggest that the volume of cash that has been misappropriated could give the Iraq War the worst war profiteering legacy in history. Do you hope that the gag order regarding US companies that may be involved is lifted soon? Does the public deserve some transparency?

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Cheney Makes Incest Joke About West Virginians

CitizenSugar — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 15:40:58 -0700

Cheney Makes Incest Joke About West Virginians
Talking about his distant relation to Obama, Cheney explained that while researching his family lineage for Lynne's memoir Blue Skies, No Fences, he learned there were Cheneys on both his father's and mother's side of the family. There was a Richard Cheney on his mother's side. "So I had Cheneys on both sides of the family and we don't even live in West Virginia," Cheney quipped. Robert Byrd (D, WV) is not amused.

Which News Story Are You So Over?

CitizenSugar — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 12:15:35 -0700

You know the biggies — the stories that are so everywhere, all the time that you're contemplating buying property under a very big rock just to escape them. I guess Dick Cheney might have one story he's a little weary of hearing, too — here's his response to the "Dick Cheney is a heartless monster" story at last night's Radio & Television Correspondents' Dinner. I giggled.

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Mildly well-delivered punchline aside, is this story an example of one that's driving you to distraction? If you have to hear one more word about Bush/Cheney et al will you come unglued? Or is your welcome worn out on one of these other constant loop topics?

Which News Story Are You So Over?

The whole Bush Administration and its foibles, Cheney included.

The Olympics! Ack, China, China, China.

The Pope's visit. And can we please rename the "Popemobile?"

Israel/Palestine. It's really never ending.

Iraq. I know it's important, but the news is always so bad.

The election! Oy! Just vote already!

The economy. If I had a dollar for everytime I heard bad money news. . . .

Global warming. It's a hot topic that melts my icecaps.

Other. How could you forget the one I'm about to tell you in the comments?!

Top US Officials Approved Torture — Do You Care?

LibertySugar — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 10:00:00 -0700

So by now many of you have heard about evidence that top Bush Administration officials participated in explicit conversations in the White House regarding torture techniques to be used on suspected terrorists. Vice President Dick Cheney, Attorney General John Ashcroft, Secretary of State Colin Powell, then-National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld sat around — in a series of meetings of potential war-crime defendants — discussing specific methods of harsh interrogation, and issuing their approval. The Associate Press reports that CIA officials demonstrated tactics to "make sure the small group of 'principals' fully understood what the al-Qaeda detainees would undergo. The principals eventually authorized physical abuse such as slaps and pushes, sleep deprivation, or waterboarding."What recourse is left for an average American who wants to see the US uphold international law? Are you outraged that top US officials discussed and approved techniques widely considered torture in the White House? Source

Top US Officials Approved Torture — Do You Care?

Outraged! They need to be held accountable. The US is not about torture.

Not outraged. They did the right thing by taking the time to figure out what was legal.

Other. I'll tell you in the comments.

Dick Cheney More Generous Than Santa Claus

CitizenSugar — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 12:00:23 -0700

Tax time means sometimes us mere mortals get sneaky peeks into politicians secret financial records. After much clamor, it turns out Obama gave about 6 percent of his income in 2006. That fraction was up from the 1 percent they gave in 2000-2004, which clocked in far lower than the national average.

How generous is Dick Cheney? Very! Cheney gave away a whopping 78 percent of his income in 2006. (For the mathematically inclined and curious, 78 percent=$6.9 million, so 100 percent=x. Come on cross-multipliers! I know you're out there!) Do the wealthy like our friend Mr. Cheney give away the most loot? To see the surprising answer,

Bush Bears the Biggest Burden? Do You Agree With Cheney?

CitizenSugar — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 10:00:30 -0700

This story doesn't need a lot of preface — the quote speaks pretty loudly for itself. On ABC News last night, Vice President Dick Cheney said this of the milestone 4,000 US deaths in Iraq, and the burden faced by military families:"The president carries the biggest burden, obviously. He's the one who has to make the decision to commit young Americans, but we are fortunate to have a group of men and women, the all-volunteer force, who voluntarily put on the uniform and go in harm's way for the rest of us." Cheney was then asked about the phenomenon of multiple redeployments as part of the "stop-loss" strategy calling into question the "all-volunteer" portion of his statement. After some prickly back-and-forth Cheney said, "Look, there are a lot of people out there, Martha, that don't agree with me about a lot of things, but if I wanted to be loved, I'd ought to be a TV correspondent, not a politician."Well. He will be looking for a job in January. . . Does Cheney make a valid point?Source

Bush Bears the Biggest Burden? Do You Agree With Cheney?

Yes! I would never want to make life or death decisions like Bush. The burden is his.

NO. He's not part of a family with a parent leaving on a 3rd deployment. That's a burden!

Other. It's much more complicated, I'll explain in the comments.

Cheney Tells Palestine and Israel, "Love Hurts"

LibertySugar — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 03:00:01 -0700

Yesterday, US Vice President Dick Cheney attempted to resurrect Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Cheney met Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the Palestinian Authority, as well as Israeli leaders Sunday, and maintained that an independent Palestine is long overdue.

Of course, achieving that vision won't be easy. Cheney warned that a peace deal will mean "painful concessions" by both sides. Abbas was quick to demand Israeli concessions. He asked Cheney to call on Israel to stop building settlements and stop firing on Palestinian militants.

The Bush Administration is working hard to help Israel and Palestine reach an agreement before Bush leaves office. Bush traveled to the region in January, and will return in May. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice is making monthly visits. Do you think President Bush can bring the two sides together, adding a tangible and commendable accomplishment in the Middle East to his legacy?

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Front Page: Cheney in Afghanistan, Germany Limits Spying, McCain in the UK

CitizenSugar — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 07:03:29 -0700

Vice President Dick Cheney visited Afghanistan today to meet with President Hamid Karzai. The visit is in anticipation of a NATO summit where Washington is expected to urge its allies to send more troops to the troubled country. The NATO-led force has about 43,000 troops in Afghanistan, charged with fighting Taliban militants. The militants have regrouped since US and Afghan forces removed the hardline Islamist movement from power after the September 11, 2001 attacks. They relaunched their insurgency two years ago. Cheney said of the need for troops, "all free nations have an interest in a secure, democratic Afghanistan."

Germany's highest court has restricted an anti-terrorism law making telecom companies store private data for six months. Uner the new ruling data may still be kept but is only to be accessed during investigations into serious crime. The original ruling was a result of the discovery of a number of alleged terrorism plots in Germany in recent years. The case was spurred by a class-action suit against the original ruling filed by 30,000 people. The German court's decision comes amid US debates over FISA and telecom rights.
Senator John McCain met with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown today to discuss Iraq, the world economy and climate change. Addressing the fact that Brown hopes to cut British troops near Basra from 4,000 to 2,500 soon, McCain said, "having just come from Iraq, I can tell you unequivocally that the situation has improved dramatically over the last year. Iraqi people are going about their normal lives, but the fact is al Qaeda is on the run. They are not defeated." He added, "We appreciate enormously the long service and sacrifice of the British men and women in the military both in Iraq and Afghanistan."

Court to Decide If Individuals Have Right to Bear Arms

LibertySugar — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 13:00:27 -0700

The groundbreaking lawsuit challenging Washington DC's strict gun-control laws will go before the US Supreme Court this week. District of Columbia v. Heller, funded by a rich libertarian lawyer, is a shot in the dark for Second Amendment activists. The Supreme Court will have the extremely rare opportunity to rule on a provision of the Constitution that never has gone directly before the Supreme Court — the Second Amendment.

DC has the nation's strictest gun-control law, and effectively bans the private possession of handguns. The law states that rifles and shotguns must be kept unloaded and disassembled, or trigger locked, at home. DC argues that the law is a logical decision to make in a dangerous city, although the other party maintains that crime and homicide rates have not been reduced. To see how the Bush administration is making a case for the restrictions,

Front Page: Cheney, McCain in Iraq, Violence in Kosovo

CitizenSugar — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 07:00:44 -0700

Vice President Dick Cheney arrived in Baghdad just hours ago on an unannounced visit, according to the Iraqi prime minister's office. On Cheney's agenda are plans to meet with Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and with Gen. David Petraeus, the top US commander in Iraq, as well as US Ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker. The vice president was on a tour of the Middle East, the latest official to make the trip recently. The trip coincides with the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war.

On an unrelated trip, Sen. John McCain is also in Iraq today with colleagues on the Senate Armed Services Committee. He is scheduled to meet with the same officials as Vice President Dick Cheney. Iraqi politicians are monitoring the visit closely knowing that the outcome of the upcoming election will certainly affect their country. Wael Abdul Latif, an independent Shiite member of the Iraqi Parliament, said “this visit confirms that the Republicans believe that the Iraqi war is very important in the fight against terrorism in the Middle East.” As Iraq is central to the current campaign, Hillary Clinton delivered a major policy speech in DC this morning on the Iraq surge and her plan to begin troop withdrawals.
United Nations police have been forced to withdraw from parts of Kosovo after clashes in Serbian areas in the divided city of Mitrovica with Serb demonstrators grew too violent. The violence is said to be the worst since Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence last month. In the clashes, at least 22 UN police and eight NATO troops were injured. The violence started after about 100 UN police arrested 53 Serbs in an operation to retake the UN court in a Serbian part of the city. The action caused 200 to 300 protesters then gathered in front of the court and began to throw rocks and Molotov cocktails, forcing the withdrawal.

President Bush Sings Farewell to a Hilarious Presidency

LibertySugar — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 00:00:19 -0700

An unauthorized cellphone video of the American President-turned-American Idol has leaked on the Internet. Last weekend at the Gridiron, an annual roast attended by political journalists, President Bush sang a lighthearted ode to his time in the White House. His serenade was met with chuckles, applause, and a standing ovation.

I'm a little confused why the country's best journalists find the inept response to Hurricane Katrina, obstruction of justice by a top administration aide, and other Bush highlights, so absolutely side-splitting.

Now that the Bush Presidency is in its twilight, are you prepared to laugh at a musical recitation of its many scandals and crises sung by the President himself? To see the lyrics,