Home / thinkprogress.org rss archive / October-01-2007


Eight states sue Bush over SCHIP.
A coalition of eight states — New Jersey, Maryland, Arizona, California, Illinois, New Hampshire, New York and Washington — have sued the Bush administration, objecting to new rules that “make it harder for them to provide coverage to children in middle-income families”

Lindsey Graham Sets 90 Day Deadline For Iraq
In February, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) warned against setting any kind of deadline for Iraq. Appearing on Fox News Sunday, he said, “I cannot guarantee you success, but I can promise you this: The day you set timelines and deadlines, it’s lost in Iraq.”Nine months later, Graham is setting a timetable for Iraq:Graham told Time [...]

Judge rules Bush can’t block presidential records.
Today, a federal judge “invalided part of a 2001 order by President Bush allowing former presidents to review executive documents before they can be released under open records laws.” The AP reports: U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ruled that the presidential order eliminated the discretion of the National Archives to control the release historical [...]

McCain faces heat over religious remarks.
Several Jewish organizations criticized Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) for stating that he would prefer a Christian president over someone of a different faith. The American Jewish Council argued McCain should not be imposing religious tests for public office. “To argue that America is a Christian nation, or that persons of a particular faith should by [...]

Blackwater Fired First In 84 Percent Of ‘Escalation Of Force’ Incidents Since 2005
On Sept. 16, private security contractors working for Blackwater USA opened fire in a crowded traffic circle in Central Baghdad, killing 11 Iraqis. Since the incident, Blackwater and the State Department have insisted that the guards were responding to a “hostile attack.”But a comprehensive report by Iraq’s Ministry of Interior, released last week, concluded that [...]

FBI sending investigators to Iraq to probe Blackwater.
“Amid questions of reckless behavior by U.S contractors, the FBI is sending a team to Iraq to investigate the role of Blackwater USA in last month’s shoot-out in Baghdad that killed 11 Iraqis,” the AP reports. The agency is “making the move at the request of the State Department…to pursue possible criminal charges in light [...]

Batiste: Rush’s Murtha attack ‘dismisses’ his ‘validity.’
On his radio show on Friday, Rush Limbaugh elaborated on his comment that service members who support withdrawal from Iraq are “phony soldiers,” specifically referencing Rep. John Murtha (D-PA), a 37-year veteran of the Marines Corp. On MSNBC’s Countdown, Gen. John Batiste, who commanded the 1st Infantry Division in Iraq before retiring, said that Rush’s [...]

Rep. Kingston Introduces Resolution ‘Commending’ Rush Limbaugh
Today, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) gave a speech on the Senate floor condemning Rush Limbaugh for calling troops who support American withdrawal from Iraq “phony soldiers.” He urged his colleagues — both Democratic and Republican — to sign a letter of disapproval to the CEO of Clear Channel. Instead, Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) [...]

Bolton: We Should Carry Out Regime Change In Iran Because It Did Work In Iraq
The Jerusalem Post reported yesterday that former U.N. ambassador John Bolton advised Tory delegates in Britain this weekend that they should press for “pre-emptive strike on suspected nuclear facilities” in Iran.“Because life is about choices, I think we have to consider the use of military force.” He added that any strike “should be followed by [...]

Harkin: ‘Maybe Limbaugh was high on drugs again.’
Today on the Senate floor, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) condemned Rush Limbaugh’s “phony soldiers” comment, saying that the radio host makes these “provocative things to make more money.” He then offered another possible explanation for Limbaugh’s “over-the-line” remarks: Well, I don’t know. Maybe he was just high on his drugs again. I don’t know whether [...]

Reid Blasts Limbaugh: ‘He Thinks That His Opinion On Iraq Is Worth More’ Than Those Of The Soldiers
Last week, right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh declared that soldiers who support American withdrawal from Iraq are “phony soldiers.”Today, Majority Leader Harry Reid gave a seven-minute speech on the floor of the Senate condemning Limbaugh and calling on his colleagues — both Democratic and Republican — to sign a letter of disapproval to the CEO [...]

Fred Thompson: Iraq had WMDs prior to invasion.
Former Sen. Fred Thompson, speaking in Iowa today, declared that Iraq did indeed have WMDs prior to the U.S. invasion. The Des Moines Register reports:[Thompson] was certain former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction prior to the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, a point of contention in the 4.5 years since the [...]

Perino Dismisses Sy Hersh And ‘All His Anonymous Sources’ On Iran
Seymour Hersh, The New Yorker’s Pulitzer-Prize winning investigative journalist, has a new article warning that there is “a significant increase in the tempo of attack planning” for war with Iran inside the Bush administration. He reports that the administration has switched its rationale war, from a broad bombing attack against Iran’s nuclear facilities to “surgical” [...]

Chertoff: Immigrants ‘degrade the environment.’
Today, Homeland Security Chairman Michael Chertoff on Monday defended the construction of the border fence, by arguing that it’s good for the environment. “Illegal migrants really degrade the environment. I’ve seen pictures of human waste, garbage, discarded bottles and other human artifact in pristine areas,” he said. “And believe me, that is the worst thing [...]

Supreme Court rejects birth control case.
The Supreme Court today “declined to enter a church-state dispute over whether some religious organizations can be forced to pay for workers’ birth-control health insurance benefits. … The court let stand a New York court ruling upholding a state law that forces religious-based social service agencies to subsidize contraceptives as part of prescription drug coverage [...]

The Simpsons mocks Murdoch’s WSJ acquisition.
In the opening sequence of last night’s Simpsons episode, Bart Simpson is seen writing “The Wall Street Journal Is Better Than Ever” on the chalkboard: Murdoch once appeared on the show as himself, and the writers gave him the entrance line, “I’m Rupert Murdoch, the billionaire tyrant, and this is my skybox.”

Gen. Peter Pace for Senate?
Today, Gen. Peter Pace retires as Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman. The National Review is calling on Virginia to draft Pace to run for Senate: Defense secretary Robert Gates declined to recommend Pace for another two-year term in the military’s top job, fearing that contentious Senate confirmation hearings would rehash past decisions about the war [...]

Podhoretz: ‘I Believe Bush Is Going To Order Airstrikes On Iran Before He Leaves Office’
Norman Podhoretz, widely reputed as the “godfather” of neoconservatism, has released a new book entitled World War IV: The Long Struggle Against Islamofacism, a strident call for continuing the Bush strategy of preemptive wars.Podhoretz, who was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Bush in 2004, met privately with the President for 45 minutes recently. [...]

‘I hate all Iranians,’
said senior Pentagon official Debra Cagan to a group of British MPs. “The six MPs were taken aback by the hardline approach of the Pentagon and in particular Ms Cagan, one of Mr Bush’s foreign policy advisers.” Cagan “also accused Britain of ‘dismantling’ the Anglo-US-led coalition in Iraq by pulling troops out of Basra too [...]

‘More than 40′ Giuliani speeches interrupted by calls.
During a recent appearance before the National Rifle Association, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani rudely interrupted his speech to take a brief call from his wife, Judith, on his cell phone. Apparently, this is not a new phenomenon for Giuliani. John Fund reports today that it might not be a mere coincidence: “He [...]

ThinkFast: October 1, 2007
With 19 cases on the docket in the new Supreme Court term that begins today, the court will take on “an unusually large number of cases,” including a racial discrimination case that “could provide a vehicle for limiting remedies available under one of the country’s oldest civil rights laws.” Blackwater contractors have alleged that a [...]