Home / thinkprogress.org rss archive / August-30-2007


CNN: Craig ‘likely resign pretty soon.’
CNN’s Dana Bash, who is reporting from Idaho, said today that her sources “do think that Senator Craig will likely resign pretty soon. That is sort of the sense that people are getting.”

‘The truth about my dead brother.’
Dante Zeppala writes a Daily Kos diary about his brother, Army Sgt. Sherwood Baker, who was killed in Iraq in 2004:He was killed two weeks after he sent that e-mail when a paint factory exploded. The mission had been aborted several times before because of safety concerns. Under the direction of a British Captain, they [...]

Plane carrying U.S. lawmakers in Iraq comes under attack.
A military cargo plane carrying three senators — Mel Martinez (R-FL), Richard Shelby (R-AL), and James Inhofe (R-OK) — and a House member — Bud Cramer (D-IL) — was forced to take evasive maneuvers and dispatch flares to avoid ground fire after taking off from Baghdad on Thursday night. The AP reports:The lawmakers said their [...]

Video: Bloggers and activists on FISA.
Yesterday, the Center for American Progress hosted an event examining the recent amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. One panel, moderated by ThinkProgress editor Faiz Shakir, featured prominent bloggers and activists who have led the campaign to rein in the administration’s quest for expansive powers. If you missed it, you can now watch the [...]

NY Post uses gay stereotypes to cover Craig.
As part of its coverage of Sen. Larry Craig’s (R-ID) arrest for “lewd conduct” in an airport bathroom, the tabloid-y New York Post posted a sidebar questionnaire on its website today asking “are you a gay Senator?” The questions are filled with gay stereotypes like “do you sing showtunes in the car between political events?” [...]

Tauscher Warns Of Petraeus’ Conflict Of Interest In Reporting On Escalation
Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-CA) added her name to the list of analysts and lawmakers who are raising concerns about Gen. David Petraeus’s “conflicting loyalty” between “the desire to please the president” and to report the unvarnished truth about Bush’s strategy.In an interview with ThinkProgress, Tauscher said:We have to be sanguine about the surge, and it’s [...]

ThinkProgress is going on the road today.
Blogging will be light.

Fox News Bashes ‘Desperate,’ ‘Ambitious,’ ‘Single Mother’ Katie Couric For Traveling To Iraq
In two separate segments yesterday, Fox News attacked CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric for reporting from the ground in Iraq, calling it “a desperate move” and asking if it was a “ratings ploy or legitimate journalism.”On Your World With Neil Cavuto, guest host Dagen McDowell featured Janice Crouse of Concerned Women for America, who [...]

Petraeus: WH won’t write my September report.
Recently, the media revealed — and the White House confirmed — that Gen. David Petraeus’s much-anticipated September report on Iraq will “actually be written by the White House.” But this week, Petraeus assured lawmakers that he won’t let the White House interfere with his analysis: Gen. David Petraeus, who is scheduled to brief Congress in [...]

DoJ IG will continue probe into Gonzales.
Earlier this month, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) asked “Justice Department’s Inspector General (IG) to investigate potentially false or misleading testimony given by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales during his appearances before various congressional committees.” Despite Gonzales’ resignation, Fine told Leahy today that his office will still assess Gonzales’ contradictory claims. Leahy released the [...]

The watering down campaign begins.
The Bush administration is already in full spin mode regarding the “strikingly harsh” GAO report on Iraq. An individual leaked the GAO report to the Washington Post because the source feared that the administration would try to “water down” its conclusions. As predicted, the Pentagon has begun the watering-down campaign: Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell [...]

Gates Marginalized By White House, Not Informed Of New $50 Billion Iraq Funding Request
Yesterday, the Washington Post reported that President Bush will soon request an additional $50 billion from Congress for the war in Iraq. The request, which is expected to be made after Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker testify to Congress about Iraq, “appears to reflect the view in the administration” that Bush’s escalation strategy [...]

Conservative ‘Homophobic Hypocrisy’ In Craig Scandal
Earlier this month, Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) pleaded guilty to “misdemeanor disorderly conduct” for “lewd” sexual conduct in a men’s public restroom. In July, Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) also admitted to the “sin” of a sexual crime — frequenting an escort service run by the DC Madam. To date, five Republican lawmakers have called [...]

Judge to unseal secret transcripts from Cunningham trial.
U.S. District Judge Larry Alan Burns has decided to unseal the transcripts of a secret court hearing for New York businessman Thomas Kontogiannis, an admitted co-conspirator of former congressman Randy “Duke” Cunningham. Kontogiannis paid Cunningham nearly $1 million in bribes, and admitted to bribery charges in Feb. 2007. The Kontogiannis “have been at the center [...]

Rep. Porter cites gas prices as reason to stay in Iraq.
Rep. Jon Porter (R-NV), who recently returned from a visit to Iraq, said he was told that an Iraq withdrawal would cause gas prices to rise to $9/gallon.“To a person, they said there would be genocide, gas prices in the U.S. would rise to eight or nine dollars a gallon, al-Qaida would continue its expansion, [...]

Coleman drops donation by Craig.
Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN), who yesterday called on Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) to step down, has “become the first lawmaker to announce that he is not keeping a political donation” from the embattled senator. Craig’s political action committee gave $2,500 to Coleman’s Senate campaign. Coleman’s spokeperson said that it would likely turn the money over [...]

White House Preparing Strategy To Water Down Pessimistic Reports From Iraq
The Washington Post reports that a draft version of the Government Accountability Office’s upcoming report on Iraq will deliver a “strikingly negative” assessment of the situation in Iraq. The report contradicts the administration’s claim that sectarian violence is decreasing, stating that “the number of attacks against Iraqi civilians remains unchanged.”The leaked draft version of the [...]

ThinkFast: August 30, 2007
Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN) became the fourth member of Congress to call on Sen. Larry Craig to resign. “While additional concerns are being raised, Senator Craig already demonstrated that he is unfit to serve in the U.S. Congress when he pled guilty,” Souder said in a statement. “I believe that he needs to step down.”Next [...]