You may remember staunch judicial activism opponent Scalia from the west coast dock unpleasantness

Carrying on the family crusade against judicial activism since some point in the indefinite future

Labor Department Solicitor Eugene Scalia is trying to undermine legal protections for whistle-blowers in government and industry by intervening in an employee's case against the Department of Justice, two senators and two advocacy groups said this week.

Scalia filed a friend-of-the-court brief on Sept. 4 with a Labor Department administrative review board seeking to overturn a $200,000 punitive damage award won by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory C. Sasse of Ohio in a whistle-blower case against the Justice Department.

Scalia argued that Sasse does not enjoy whistle-blower protection in his contacts with Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (D-Ohio), who was looking into reports of toxic materials on federally owned land near the Cleveland airport. Only contacts with a "duly authorized" investigative committee are protected, Scalia wrote, pointing to President Bush's interpretation of a new corporate accountability law that deals with whistle-blower disclosures to Congress.

Go Moose!

The New York Times on Chief Moose
Way to do a tough job.

I love this guy's face. How often do you see someone in public life with memorable features? You don't, is how often.

How the parties do business

Krugman on Republican strategy

Right now the administration is playing the war card, inventing facts as necessary, and trying to use the remnants of Mr. Bush's post-Sept. 11 popularity to gain control of all three branches of government. But then what? There is, after all, no indication that Mr. Bush ever intends to move to the center.

So the administration's inner circle must think that full control of the government can be used to lock in a permanent political advantage, even though the more the public learns about their policies, the less it likes them. The big question is whether the press, which is beginning to find its voice, will lose it again in the face of one-party government.

Trent Lott on Republican Strategy

Still, Mr. Lott is clearly trying to develop better relations in his caucus by demonstrating that his zeal to win back control of the Senate for Republicans is unflagging.

Should Republicans succeed and complete the trifecta of controlling the House, Senate and White House, Mr. Lott has an ambitious agenda. That agenda is a chief element of his sales pitch as he tries to pick up that one additional Senate seat that will allow him to reclaim the title of majority leader, which was snatched from him when Mr. Jeffords, now an independent, left the Republicans.

"We will come out of the gates next year fast," Mr. Lott promised.

Confirmation of 50 or more judges nominated by President Bush is high on his list. Making permanent the 10-year tax cuts Congress approved last year is another priority. He said he would pass the Republican version of prescription drug coverage for older Americans, bar a form of late-term abortion opponents call partial-birth abortion and protect gun rights.

"Give us a chance," Mr. Lott implored the crowd at the AQ Chicken House, a restaurant known for pan-fried chicken off Sam Walton Boulevard, a street named for Bentonville's favorite son and the founder of Wal-Mart, its economic lifeblood.

"For two years with President Bush in the White House and with a Republican majority in the House and Senate, I believe we can do things our states and our country would need that would make a difference for generations to come," Mr. Lott said.

Democratic Strategy

Mr. Pataki remains comfortably ahead in the polls. Mr. McAuliffe said that Mr. McCall's failure to gain ground was the reason that Mr. McAuliffe did not want to give more to the campaign. However, the more immediate trigger seemed to be Mr. McCall's public castigation of Mr. McAuliffe for providing only $240,000 out of the $500,000 the Democratic National Committee had pledged to raise for his campaign.

Yesterday, Mr. McCall reverted to his more usual conciliatory style, seeking to suppress the fallout and rein in angered Democrats like the Rev. Al Sharpton. Mr. Sharpton called an 11 a.m. news conference to "put the Democratic National Committee on notice," but Mr. McCall stepped in, said Rachel Noerdlinger, Mr. Sharpton's spokeswoman.

A Democratic official said that in a conversation yesterday, Mr. McAculiffe explained to Mr. McCall that he told McCall advisers that the national party would funnel $100,000 of its own money to Mr. McCall and then raise another $400,000 from unions. Mr. McCall indicated that he was not aware of the details and he apologized for miscommunications within his campaign, the official said.

New York Democrats had been stunned by what they saw as Mr. McAuliffe's unnecessarily public vote of no confidence, even if privately many said that Mr. McCall's campaign was far behind where it should be.

"It's the kind of thing that everyone might be thinking, but why would you say it out loud?" one Democratic strategist said.

Senator Charles E. Schumer said he hoped the national party would reconsider because the campaign is in a "Catch-22 situation."

"If Carl even gets a little bit of money and lets the electorate know who he is, he can win this race," Mr. Schumer said.

Senator Clinton said, "It is my understanding that Carl and Terry have talked and they are on the same page."

One national party operative said the timing of the spat was terrible, and that Mr. Clinton and Harold M. Ickes, a former Clinton deputy chief of staff who is now advising the McCall campaign, had been trying to raise money for Mr. McCall even as Mr. McAuliffe was making his remarks.

"What was Terry thinking?" the operative said.

But he placed some of the blame for the dispute at Mr. McCall's doorstep, saying, "Carl broke a rule from politics 101: don't air your dirty laundry in public."

After election day, there'll be two more years before the next national election.

Don't we think that would be enough time to choose someone to run the DNC who isn't a complete idiot?

Do these people attend their own press conferences?

WASHINGTON, Oct. 24 - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld went to great lengths today to describe a collegial, cooperative relationship between the Pentagon and the Central Intelligence Agency, even as he noted "differences of opinions" over how to interpret data on terrorist cells and adversary states like Iraq.

...

He spoke at an afternoon news conference that his aides said was organized specifically to respond to reports of rifts between the Pentagon's senior civilian leaders and the C.I.A., and to counter those who say Mr. Rumsfeld and his advisers are trying to mold intelligence findings to bolster those in the administration who advocate attacking Iraq.

Mr. Rumsfeld cited an editorial in The New York Times on Wednesday that called on him to present what he described as "bulletproof" evidence of links between Al Qaeda and Iraq, and also an article today in the newspaper describing an intelligence unit at the Pentagon assigned to mine reports from other spy agencies for information on Al Qaeda and Iraq that had been missed or ignored.

Advocates of the unit's work say its assignment is to use powerful computers and new software to mine for data on the capacities of President Saddam Hussein of Iraq, and of his suspected ties to terrorist groups - information that might have been diluted or even ignored by intelligence analysts who do not believe in the severity of the Iraqi threat.

But critics have said the team is at work finding only information that fits the most hawkish views on Iraq and risks politicizing the intelligence process. Should America go to war to topple Mr. Hussein, then public support requires a full and fair discussion of the evidence against the Iraqi leader, the critics say.

...

Paul D. Wolfowitz, the deputy defense secretary, said that when he or Mr. Rumsfeld testify in closed-door hearings of Congress, they draw directly on texts prepared by the C.I.A. so that the administration can present a unified view on threats to national security.

Mr. Wolfowitz said the work of the new Pentagon intelligence unit was responsive to specific questions from Pentagon officials and that it was valuable as another source of information.

"I don't think that the facts that may be uncovered by people who think there is more of a connection are the reliable facts, and the facts that are uncovered by people who think there isn't one are unreliable facts," Mr. Wolfowitz said. "I just think that the two different perspectives will give you different sets of information, and I sure as heck wouldn't want to be dependent on only one or the other."

So they aren't looking for specific answers, but they are looking for specific answers, but they need to be looking for those specific answers because the answers they're getting now from the CIA are completely different from the answers they want.

Which is, of course, doubleplusungood.

Air Force One Equipment Lacking on Sept. 11, 2001

NEW YORK - While President Bush was on board Air Force One the day of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, he was unable to hold video conferences, monitor news coverage properly or receive key data from people on the ground, Business Week reported in its latest edition.

The magazine said that as a result of communications inadequacies on the presidential plane, Bush ordered the equipment on the fleet of four presidential planes to be upgraded.

"The president was not happy," Adm. James Ellis Jr., commander of the U.S. military's Strategic Command, was quoted as saying in the Nov. 4 issue.

"He couldn't even watch CNN," Ellis added of the day Bush flew around the country for his safety after the attacks in New York and Washington.

It was only when Bush landed at Offutt Air Force base in Nebraska that he was able to use Strat-Com's sophisticated equipment to assess the situation and give orders, the magazine said.



Edit:

In light of this, just when was this picture taken?

From the AP story, based on the information given out by the White House and the RNC when the famous Air Force One picture went on sale:

The photo, taken by a White House photographer, shows President Bush calling Vice President Cheney aboard Air Force One just hours after the suicide hijackers struck New York and Washington.

From the White House Photo Essay page, now:

After departing Offutt Air Force Base, President Bush calls Vice President Cheney from Air Force One.

From Mr. Fleischer's press conference on 9/11/2001

5:30 P.M. EDT

MR. FLEISCHER: The President will address the nation tonight, upon his return to the White House. He met this afternoon for one hour and five minutes with his national security team via live tele-conference from Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska.

In other words, the picture the RNC was selling of Bush taking control "hours after" the attack on the WTC (which, if you recall, was over before 10am) was actually taken over seven hours after the attack on the WTC, after Cheney took control of the situation because Bush was unable to get in touch with the White House until he reached Nebraska.

Presumably the "pounding his fists on the table" picture was too blurry.

Google weighs in: Did you mean to search for: Bush Air Force One 911 communication

ewwwwwwww

36 stops in 3 weeks

Clearly the war thing isn't distracting the president too much.

The president, hungry for full Republican control of Congress, was sandwiching a weekend of meetings with world leaders -- at his Texas ranch and in Mexico -- between multistate campaign trips to boost the GOP in some of the nation's tightest races.

The first of three stops Thursday was on behalf of Elizabeth Dole, running a tightening contest against Democrat Erskine Bowles to replace the retiring GOP Sen. Jesse Helms.

Bush, in his third campaign appearance for Dole, said he admires Helms' 30 years in the Senate. "No finer gentleman in the United States Senate. He represented North Carolina well, he's a credit to our country and the right person to follow Sen. Jesse Helms is soon-to-be-Senator Elizabeth Dole," said Bush.

No finer gentleman?

A.

Credit.

to.

Our.

Country.

Apparently Bush v. Gore also redecided the results of the Civil War.

Let's don't let crackers run the government, OK? It never works out.

sigh

I'm not even linking to this. Or naming anyone.

Let me just point out that if the sniper was driven by his hatred of white christian Americans (by which I assume you mean native born anglo-saxons) that's who he would have killed.

Which, as it happens, is not the case.

Glad I could clear it up for you.

Get a fix

To subscribe to the scurrilous and terribly funny sfgate morning fix, and get the joy, the wonder, the inutterable bliss of the word of the day, which is only available in email because it's thoroughly scurrilous and if you ask for it you can't sue them afterwards for shocking you, follow these simple (honestly, compared to some of the stuff they'll send you, they truly are) instructions, which I'm printing without permission so if you're shocked you have to sue me, which, I mean, if you think you can sell unfinished crafts projects for enough to pay your lawyer have at it:

TO SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE

Some people believe that flowers are the incarnations or representations or rather perhaps the dazzling manifestations of the incredible gorgeous funky kaleidoscopic range of human spiritual endeavor and divine potential sent here of the oversoul or of the guardian souls of the other planes who/which are trying to somehow indicate and inspire to the huddled struggling masses here in this vibrational plane that there is more here than is dreamt of in your earnest philosophy and you really do only need to look at a field of wildflowers or stroll though a nursery or toss a bucket of petals on your bed just before lubing up the loved one to realize these people and these souls are truly onto something with the whole flower thing and that there really is nothing like a fragrant beauty-drunk bouquet of http://sfgate.com/newsletters/.

Or simply hie thee to SF Gate's newsletters page at http://sfgate.com/newsletters/, honeychile, and follow the easy instructions.


DISCLAIMER

Pomegranates can't possibly reveal all their truths without acting all coy and sly and just a little nasty. Just when you think you know what there is to know about something very significant and important in your life you realize it's sort of futile and moot and cosmically comical to think you know anything. No one else thinks Christina Aguilera is all that hot either. If this is not what you expected, please alter your expectations. No such thing as random coincidence. No such thing as too much lubricant.

Senator Wellstone's dead

WASHINGTON, Oct. 25 - Senator Paul Wellstone of Minnesota was killed today when his campaign plane crashed approaching a small airport in a wooded region in the northern part of his state.

Mr. Wellstone, 58, a Democrat who was one of the Senate's most liberal members and was in a fierce fight to win re-election to a third term, perished along with seven other people when the chartered King Air A100 went down near Eveleth around 10:20 a.m. Central Time, the Federal Aviation Administration reported.

National Weather Service reports at the time indicated light rain and snow were sweeping over the area and visibility was diminishing. People familiar with the last moments of the flight said radio contact had been normal and that the plane had been cleared to make an instrument approach to Eveleth-Virginia Municipal Airport.

Also killed were Mr. Wellstone's wife, Sheila; one of the couple's three children, Marcia; members of the Senate's staff and the twin-engine aircraft's two pilots, officials said.

Control of the Senate is such an overriding political consideration that speculation on what Mr. Wellstone's death might mean on Capitol Hill began almost immediately, even as lawmakers of both parties, liberal and conservative alike, were feeling the shock of personal grief.

which oddly actually appears to be true.

Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., had been campaigning with Wellstone earlier today. Wellstone had left Kennedy, who was giving a speech on Wellstone's behalf, to travel to the Rukavina funeral.

"All of us who knew Paul Wellstone … are devastated today," Kennedy said after the crash. "We will miss you, Paul, and we will never forget you."

A Leading Liberal Voice

Elected leaders across the political spectrum reacted with shock and sadness to news of Wellstone's death. "Paul Wellstone was a man of deep convictions. He was a plainspoken fellow who did his best for his state and for his country," President Bush said. "May the good Lord bless those who grieve."

Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., called Wellstone the "soul of the Senate."

"For the people of Minnesota, this is too heartbreaking for words," said Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss. "For the entire United States Senate, this is a death in our family. For all of us, this is a reminder of the dedication of the men and women who serve their country in public office."

Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, called Wellstone "a man of conviction, who never swayed from his beliefs even when he was fighting a lonely battle."

Wellstone was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1990. He was considered one of the most prominent liberal members of the Senate. He drew national attention recently when he voted against authorizing the Bush to use force against Iraq.

Not a bad idea

the Hamster suggests that one way to deal with this would be to buy a copy of Wellstone's book, "The Conscience of a Liberal: Reclaiming the Compassionate Agenda." which seems like a fine idea to me.

heh

from a message board that's more sensible than most

If I were to start a thread saying (for instance) that the Urguayan Army Chorus' People's Party was debased by the new Tenor minister, it would be hard to keep it civil.

In a debate forum, where someone was moderating it to keep things reasonably on topic and factual, it might be possible to discuss the shortcomings of the tenors, or establish that the baritones are the real problem. In GC, nobody is moderating like this; and we would probably wind up with the whole thing degenerating into ad hominum attacks on the third tenor's mistress and the head baritone's taco habit.

Rather than see this happen, it's best to avoid open ended discussions of choral politics unless they are very narrowly focused

substance

Ignatz talks about union busting and the increasingly ephemeral wall between church and state.