Did Bush View the Missing CIA Tapes?

Harpers Magazine has published a story by Scott Horton entitled "Did Bush Watch the Torture Tapes?" that indicates President Bush may have personally viewed the missing tapes of CIA interrogations. If true, the allegation that their illegal destruction was ordered by the White House gains credibility. Here's a quote:

In this regards, the sequence of statements out of the White House is extremely revealing. It started with firm denials, then went silent and then pulled back rather sharply to a "President Bush has no present recollection of having seen the tapes." This is a formulation frequently used to avoid perjury charges, a sort of way of saying "no" without really saying "no." In between these statements, two more things unfolded that have a bearing on the question.

The New York Times squarely placed four White House lawyers in the middle of the decision about whether to destroy the tapes—Alberto Gonzales, David Addington, John Bellinger and Harriet Miers. It also reported that at least one of them was strongly advocating destruction. Suspicion immediately fell on the principle mover in support of torture, David Addington.

Second, John Kiriakou clarified his statements about the purpose for which the tapes were made. It was to brief higher ups about the process of the interrogation. Reports persist that one "higher-up" in particular had a special strong interest in knowing the details of the Abu Zubaydah case. His name is George W. Bush.

Are Bush's denials that he has seen the torture tapes really credible? I don't think so. And having seen them, the interest in their destruction would be equally fierce, which helps account for the involvement of the White House's four most senior lawyers in the process. No doubt about it. The White House desperately wants to scapegoat some CIA people over this.

Richardson Stands Out

Presidential candidate Bill Richardson, formerly the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, stands out in his response to the tragic and predictable assassination of Benazir Bhutto. He called for Musharraf to step down:

"Ms. Bhutto knew the dangers to her safety. But she would not be intimidated. We also must not be intimidated.

A leader has died, but democracy must live. The United States government cannot stand by and allow Pakistan's return to democracy to be derailed or delayed by violence.

We must use our diplomatic leverage and force the enemies of democracy to yield: President Bush should press Musharraf to step aside, and a broad-based coalition government, consisting of all the democratic parties, should be formed immediately. Until this happens, we should suspend military aid to the Pakistani government. Free and fair elections must also be held as soon as possible.

It is in the interests of the US that there be a democratic Pakistan that relentlessly hunts down terrorists. Musharraf has failed, and his attempts to cling to power are destabilizing his country. He must go."

By implication, the Bush administration and all the other candidates have been intimidated by an unpopular double-dealing Pakistani dictator.

Anyone who watched the early covereage of the assassination on CNN -- before they began spinning the news to coincide with the Bush administration's response -- could grasp the wisdom of Richardson's response.

Solar Power Now Cheaper than Coal Power

The New York Times has posted a report that indicates that solar power is about to be produced at a cost cheaper than power produced by coal. Here's a quote:

Nanosolar's founder and chief executive, Martin Roscheisen, claims to be the first solar panel manufacturer to be able to profitably sell solar panels for less than $1 a watt. That is the price at which solar energy becomes less expensive than coal.

"With a $1-per-watt panel," he said, "it is possible to build $2-per-watt systems."

According to the Energy Department, building a new coal plant costs about $2.1 a watt, plus the cost of fuel and emissions, he said.

Gothard, Huckabee and the SBC

Ethics Daily has posted an insightful update on the relationship of Bill Gothard and the fundamentalists within the Southern Baptist Convention. Gothard recently attended a private fundraiser for Mike Huckabee with Paul Pressler, Rick Scarborough, and Christian Reconstructionist political organizer Steven Hotze.

Gothard's "chain-of-command" theology has been enshrined in the family statement of the Baptist Faith and Message adopted in 1998 and creedalized in 2000. Huckabee has publicly endorsed the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message.

Why the "War on Christmas" Should Stop

Donna Halper, a media historian and educator, has posted a helpful essay about the deep roots of the yearly "war on Christmas" campaign. Entitled "Why the 'War on Christmas' Won't Stop . . . and Why it Should" and posted at Op-Ed News, Halper traces the efforts of Christian Nationalists back to the 1790's. Here's her conclusion:

In this season of miracles, I am praying for some courageous politicians who will say "Enough" and refuse to let religion be a wedge issue. The Founders said we shouldn’t have a religion test, yet there are so many Republicans (and even a few Democrats) feeling they must prove to the voters how they love Jesus more than their opponents do. If politicians want to show me how much they love Jesus, they might begin by feeding the poor. Or ending homelessness. Or making sure people have medicines they can afford. Or better still... how about defending separation of church and state? It really doesn't deprive anyone of their rights, and somehow, I don't think Jesus would mind.

And as for my friends on the right, I really get the point that you believe you are being persecuted for your faith. But despite what the right wing talk hosts keep insisting, there's no proof of it, other than a few cherry-picked and anecdotal stories. So, I think it's time for all the lies and exaggeration and outrage to stop. A strategy that hasn't really succeeded since 1790 ought to be discarded, replaced by a willingness to work with even your political opponents. And who knows? If we put our energies into creating a more humane society, we might be able to achieve it. Imagine an end to the War on Christmas -- now, THAT would be be a genuine holiday miracle.

Shurden Discusses Hopes for the Future

Retiring Walter Shurden discusses his hopes for the Baptist future in the October issue of the Baptist Studies Bulletin. Here's a quote:

I hope for the spirit, not necessarily the structures, of ecumenism to prevail among Baptists. I hope that Baptist groups, where it is possible, will draw closer to each other, and I think that the best hope for that unity can be found in the Baptist World Alliance, the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, and the New Baptist Covenant Celebration. I also fervently hope that Baptists will draw much closer to our sisters and brothers in other Christian denominations. I have come to believe that so much that divides us, including baptism by immersion, is sheer shortsightedness, if not downright sinfulness.

In addition to an ecumenical spirit, I hope for Baptists an intense commitment to Baptist voluntarism and all that Baptist voluntarism entails: an experiential faith that sets the individual soul afire, a regenerate church pulsating with life and love and vitality, a conversion baptism that is hard, not easy, to walk away from, freedom of conscience for ALL people who heroically defy state and church intrusion, and an utter disdain for a theocracy that favors one religious group over another.

The Disaster Capital of America

In 2007 Oklahoma set the record for the number of Presidential disaster declarations for one state in a single year.

Since it is one of the most religiously and politically conservative states in the union, you can be sure that it will be overlooked whenever televangelists like Pat Robertson discuss disastrous acts-of-nature as signs of divine wrath.

Hedges on the Evangelical Rebellion

Chris Hedges, author of American Fascists, has written the most astute and foreboding essay on the significance of Mike Huckabee's presidential candidacy to date. Here's a quote:

The Christian right is the most potent and dangerous mass movement in American history. It has been controlled and led, until now, by those who submit to the demands of the corporate state. But the grass roots are tired of being taken for rubes. They are tired of candidates, like Bush or Bill Clinton, who roll out the same clichés about working men and women every four years and then spend their terms enriching their corporate backers. The majority of American citizens have spent the last two decades watching their government services and benefits vanish. They have seen their jobs go overseas and are watching as their communities crumble and their houses are foreclosed. It is their kids who are in Iraq and Afghanistan. The old guard in the Christian right, the Pat Robertsons, who used their pulpits to deliver the votes of naive followers to the corporatists, is a spent force. Huckabee’s Christian populism represents the maturation of the movement. It signals the rise of a truly radical, even revolutionary force in American politics, of which Huckabee may be one of the tamer and less frightening examples.

Is the World on the Brink of Financial Disaster?

The UK Daily Telegraph has published a story that says, "Crisis may make 1929 look 'a walk in the park'." The article reveals how America's sub-prime mortgage crisis is poised to push economies around the world into depression. Here's a quote:

As the credit paralysis stretches through its fifth month, a chorus of economists has begun to warn that the world's central banks are fighting the wrong war, and perhaps risk a policy error of epochal proportions.

"Liquidity doesn't do anything in this situation," says Anna Schwartz, the doyenne of US monetarism and life-time student (with Milton Friedman) of the Great Depression.

"It cannot deal with the underlying fear that lots of firms are going bankrupt. The banks and the hedge funds have not fully acknowledged who is in trouble. That is the critical issue," she adds.

Lenders are hoarding the cash, shunning peers as if all were sub-prime lepers. Spreads on three-month Euribor and Libor - the interbank rates used to price contracts and Club Med mortgages - are stuck at 80 basis points even after the latest blitz. The monetary screw has tightened by default.

York professor Peter Spencer, chief economist for the ITEM Club, says the global authorities have just weeks to get this right, or trigger disaster.

"The central banks are rapidly losing control. By not cutting interest rates nearly far enough or fast enough, they are allowing the money markets to dictate policy. We are long past worrying about moral hazard," he says.

"They still have another couple of months before this starts imploding. Things are very unstable and can move incredibly fast. I don't think the central banks are going to make a major policy error, but if they do, this could make 1929 look like a walk in the park," he adds.

What Christmas is Not

Christmas is not an opportunity to flaunt your faith in the face of unbelievers.

Some American Christians have seized this day to bully people with in-your-face religiosity. Most simply condone it.

I'm convinced Jesus would oppose it because it is antithetical to the spirit of the gospel. American Christians are making the "good news" bad news.

Who can read Sally Quinn's editorial on "Congress's Bullying Pulpit" and not be ashamed? Here's a quote:

Among those voting for the resolution was a Jewish member of Congress who has asked me not to print his name. He was outraged and appalled by the bill, he told me. But he was also afraid. He thought it would hurt him with his mostly Christian constituency if he voted against it. He told some of his colleagues about his anguish. They advised him not to be stupid. It would be better for him politically if he voted for it.

Congressional Resolutions like H.R. 847 can neither defend nor advance the Christian faith. All they do is make hypocrites of us all.

Shame on all the Congressional leaders who voted for it. Shame on all the voters who condone Congress's bullying pulpit.

A Vision of Next Year's Car

Popular Mechanics has published a story about the Aptera Electric Car which goes into production next year. The gas-electric hybrid will get 300 miles per gallon.

Unfortunately, it will only be for sale in California. If they were available, I know some Okie's that would be interested in them.

Coultergeist Haunts Huckabee

The discontented apparition animating the persona of Ann Coulter has been busy hurling invectives against Mike Huckabee.

Her essay, "There's a Huckabee born every minute" is filled with the kind of brickbats that she usually reserves for liberals.

On Huckabee, Hotze and Hagee

Mike Huckabee has been demonstrating his distance from the mainstream lately. Last week, he attended a fundraiser for him at the home of Christian Reconstructionist Steven Hotze. Sunday, he preached at Christian Zionist John Hagee's church.

Hotze thinks Christians have to takeover civil government, set up a Christian theocracy and exercise dominion over all the world for a millenium before Jesus can come again.

Hagee has been encouraging President Bush to bomb Iran in order to usher in the battle of Armageddon and begin a train of events that will permit the imminent return of Jesus.

Subprime Mortgage Standards Loosened in 2004

The New York Times has published an article about the Federal Reserve's responsibility, particularly that of Chairman Alan Greenspan, for encouraging the sub-prime mortgage lending bubble that is bringing our economy to the brink of disaster.

Am I the only one who finds it more than coincidental that the worst offenses began in the midst of a national presidential election? Here's a quote:

The drop in lending standards became unmistakable in 2004, as lenders approved a flood of shaky new products: "stated-income" loans, which do not require borrowers to document their incomes; "piggyback" loans, which allow people to buy a home without making a down payment; and "option ARMs," which allowed people to make less than the minimum payment but added the unpaid amount to their total mortgage.

Fed officials noticed the drop in standards as well. The Fed's survey of bank lenders showed a steep plunge in standards that began in 2004 and continued until the housing boom fizzled in 2006.

Evidence for Impeachment Abounds says Former CIA Analyst

Ray McGovern, who once provided daily intelligence briefings to former presidents Reagan and Bush, told an audience in Portsmouth, New Hampshire that the evidence for impeachment of the president and vice president is overwhelming. Here's a quote:

Charges in the impeachment bill sponsored by Dennis Kucinich, are very detailed and "as good as any," McGovern said, and referenced the illegal eavesdropping of American citizens. He added that the President has "admitted" to this "demonstrably impeachable offense."

Daehnert to Lead BGCT in Interim

The Baptist Standard and the Fort Worth Star Telegram are reporting that William Daehnert, a retired employee at the Baptist Building in Dallas, has been appointed Interim Director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

Goldberg on the GOP's Newfound Fear of Religion

Michelle Goldberg has published an enlightening essay about the fear being expressed by many GOP pundits that the emphasis on religion in their party is getting out of hand. Apparently, Huckabee's religiosity frightens them. Here's a quote:

Over the years Republicans worked hard to organise Christian conservatives, sending consultants and cash to help turn churches into thousands of little political machines. They embraced figures like home-schooling guru Michael Farris, whose tiny, fundamentalist Patrick Henry College has been a top source of White House interns and GOP congressional aids. Farris started a group called Generation Joshua, directed by former Bush speechwriter Ned Ryun, which pays for home-schooled kids to work on Republican campaigns.

Now he's in Huckabee's corner. "It was the endorsement by prominent national home-school advocate Michael Farris that helped propel Huckabee to a surprising second-place finish in the Iowa straw poll in August," wrote the Washington Post on Monday. Home-schoolers, it said, "could also prove to be a powerful force on caucus night".

As mainstream conservatives recoil from what they've created, their cynicism is revealed - to us, but also, perhaps, to themselves. Obviously, some right-wing leaders always saw the pious masses as dupes who would vote against their economic interests if they could be convinced they were protecting marriage and Christmas.

But there there's also a certain species of urbane Republican who live in liberal bastions and, feeling terribly oppressed by the mild contempt they face at cocktail parties, imagine a profound sympathy with the simple folk of the heartland. They're like alienated suburban kids in Che Guevara t-shirts who fantasize kinship with the authentic revolutionary souls in Chiapas or Cuba or Venezuela. Confronted with the actual individuals onto whom they've projected their political hallucinations, disillusionment is inevitable. Whatever their nostalgie de la boue, the privileged classes never really want to be ruled by the rabble. They want the rabble to help them rule.

The Hoax About Conservatives Being Persecuted

Conservatives love to present themselves as the victims of persecution. So much so that some will fabricate evidence to receive attention.

Max Blumenthal does a thorough job of reporting the pathetic tale about the hoax of conservatives being persecuted at Princeton University.

Video of Hollyn Hollman on Dan Rather Reports

Hollyn Hollman, General Counsel for the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, appeared as a guest last week in a panel discussion on Dan Rather Reports.

Here's a link to the video.

Great job, Holly!

Thistlethwaite Crosses Off Huckabee

Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite, President of Chicago Theological Seminary, has written a stinging critique of Mike Huckabee's "plausibly deniable" faith-based politics. Here's a quote:

Huckabee is trying to ride two horses, he wants to be seen by the Christian conservative "base" as the only Christian in the race for the President and he wants to be able to do so in a way that allows him to have a way to escape the criticism that running as "the Christian" violates the American value of separation of church and state.

Huckabee is managing to offend me both as a Christian and also as a citizen who thinks that separation of church and state protects the church as much as it does the secular sphere.

In the Christian faith perspective, Peter discovered to his shame what happens to you when you are asked a direct question about what you believe about Jesus and you deny him. In the political perspective, this is a page from the Nixon playbook. What we are seeing in Huckabee is "plausible deniability" applied to faith-based politics.

The "Christian deniability" of Mike Huckabee is becoming more and more obvious as his campaign strategy. It's just awful.