Home / thinkprogress.org rss archive / September-23-2007


Bush invites Freepers to White House.
Last week, President Bush invited members of DC chapter of the right-wing website FreeRepublic.com, along with other conservative groups, to the White House for a picnic. According to a posting about the event on Free Republic, “President spent what seemed like two hours meeting with everyone who wanted to speak with him.” More pictures HERE. [...]

U.S. officials ignored Iraqi complaints on Blackwater.
Senior Iraqi officials “repeatedly complained to U.S. officials about Blackwater USA’s alleged involvement in the deaths of numerous Iraqis, but the Americans took little action to regulate the private security firm until 11 Iraqis were shot dead last Sunday.” Iraqi officials note that the complaints go beyond security, to Iraqis’ dignity: [Deputy Interior Minister Lt. [...]

Paulose receives exceptionally poor job review.
The U.S. attorney in Minnesota, Rachel Paulose, is under federal investigation for using racist epithets against an employee, mishandling classified information, and retaliating against staffers. Today, the Washington Post reports that “an internal Justice Department audit completed last month said her employees gave her very low marks. … Her performance review was so poor that [...]

Doolittle attacks ‘vile’ CREW for ‘Most Corrupt’ list.
Earlier this week, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington released it’s annual list of the “most corrupt members of Congress.” Rep. John Doolittle (D-CA), who is currently under federal investigation, received prominent placement on the list. Doolittle is now calling the group “underhanded and vile.” “There’s nothing responsible or ethical” about CREW, said Doolittle, [...]

Fallon: ‘Constant drumbeat’ of Iran war talk ‘not helpful.’
In an interview with al Jazeera television, CentCom Commander Admiral William Fallon warned that constant talk of bombing Iran is not hepful. “This constant drumbeat of conflict is what strikes me which is not helpful and not useful,” he said. “I expect that there will be no war and that is what we ought to [...]

O’Hanlon’s Conflict Of Interest Revealed On Fox News’ One-Hour Petraeus Special
Yesterday, Fox News aired “American Commander: Gen. David Petraeus,” a one-hour biographical account of the top commander in Iraq. The program, a narrative of Petraeus’s life from birth until his controversial Congressional testimony, featured stories from old neighbors to high school buddies to fellow military officials.One of the most prominent interviewees was Brookings Institution analyst [...]

Grisham: Bushies are ‘bad people with evil intent.’
On Thursday, best-selling author John Grisham said in an interview with the Des Moines Register that the Bush administration is built around “bad people with evil intent.” “The war is an immoral abomination that we’ll pay for for decades to come,” added Grisham. “We’re paying for it now at the rate of 100 kids a [...]

Cheney considered provoking Iran war with Israeli strikes.
According to Newsweek magazine, Vice President Dick Cheney considered a plan to allow Israel to conduct missile strikes against Iran’s nuclear sites “in an effort to draw a military response from Iran, which could in turn spark a U.S. offensive against targets in the Islamic Republic”:[T]he magazine quoted David Wurmser, until last month Cheney’s Middle [...]