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Monday, February 13, 2012
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The AP reports that in "a victory for President Bush," a divided federal appeals court "ruled Tuesday that Guantanamo Bay detainees cannot use the US court system to challenge their indefinite imprisonment. A Supreme Court appeal was promised." The 2-1 decision by the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit "dismisses hundreds of cases filed by foreign-born detainees in federal court and also threatens to strip away court access to millions of lawful permanent residents currently in the United States."
Like the AP, most media outlets describe the court's decision as a big win for Bush, although the ruling is generally being cast in a decidedly mixed light. The Los Angeles Times says it was "a victory for...Bush in his global war on terrorism," and NBC Nightly News spoke of "a victory for the Bush Administration and what it calls the war on terrorism." NBC added that "Democrats who now control Congress say they'll try to restore the authority to hear detainee appeals. And some Republicans say they'd favor that." GOP Sen. Arlen Specter was shown saying, "If Congress were to act, we could clear it up faster than the several years it will take for the Supreme Court to act on it."
The Financial Times notes "Patrick Leahy and...Specter, the top Democrat and Republican lawmakers on the Senate judiciary committee, have introduced legislation that would restore the right of habeas to detainees at Guantanamo. ... Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican senator who was instrumental in the move to strip habeas rights, yesterday welcomed the decision, which he said would prevent 'frivolous' lawsuits." The New York Times quotes Leahy saying, "The Military Commissions Act is a dangerous and misguided law that undercuts our freedoms and assaults our Constitution by removing vital checks and balances designed to prevent government overreaching and lawlessness." USA Today ¸ meanwhile, notes Rep. Ike Skelton, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, had "announced a new review of detainees' legal protections."
The Washington Times calls the ruling a "key victory for the White House," but the Christian Science Monitor says "most analysts emphasized the interim nature of the ruling. They view the 25-page panel opinion and 34-page dissent as a prelude to a major constitutional showdown at the nation's highest court." The Washington Post runs a similar report.
This week's series of Washington Post investigative articles describing the substandard care of wounded Iraq and Afghanistan veterans at the Army's Walter Reed Medical center continues to generate more controversy. Today, the Washington Post reports the White House and congressional leaders yesterday "called...for swift investigation and repair of the problems plaguing outpatient care" at Walter Reed "as veterans groups and members of Congress in both parties expressed outrage over substandard housing and the slow, dysfunctional bureaucracy there." The Post notes that it has previously "documented tattered conditions at Building 18, including mold, rot, mice and cockroaches, but also a larger bureaucratic indifference that has impeded some soldiers' recovery."
NBC Nightly News noted the Post's investigation "prompted the Pentagon to authorize an independent review of the situation at Walter Reed." NBC added that the president "often visits Walter Reed," but today Tony Snow, White House Press Secretary, "referred all questions to the Pentagon." CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight reported that top Army leaders "say they were unaware of the problem until they read about it in the paper Sunday." Harvey "blamed a failure of leadership for substandard conditions." CNN's Lou Dobbs added that for "the commander in chief to permit this" is "despicable." The AP is reporting that Sens. Barbara Mikulski and Patty Murray urged Defense Secretary Gates "to launch an inspector general's investigation," while Sens. Barack Obama and Claire McCaskill "said they are working on legislation to improve the care of war veterans." On MSNBC's Hardball McCaskill said, "I don't think they were prepared for the number of outpatients that they have, the serious injuries that are occurring, the loss of limbs, the need for social workers, the reintegration."
In an editorial, the Washington Post writes that "it should not have taken newspaper articles to bring change to outpatient conditions at Walter Reed."
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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid confirmed that the Senate will "move ahead" on Sen. Joseph Biden's proposal to modify the 2002 measure that authorized the Iraq war despite "a warning from Senate Republicans that it's certain to be vetoed and the veto would be upheld." Democrats plan to use the vote to limit severely the scope of US military involvement in Iraq. According to the AP, Reid also repeated his contention, first made this weekend, that the decision to got to war against Iraq "is the worst foreign policy blunder in the history of our country." McClatchy profiles Rep. Joe Sestak, a former Admiral in the US Navy and commander of a carrier battle group the Persian Gulf, who has introduced a bill "calling for withdrawing all American forces from Iraq by the end of this year, while strengthening the U.S. military presence in the region and in Afghanistan." Sestak's bill "would cut off most money for military operations in Iraq by Dec. 31."
Bush Confident Regarding Funding In the face of increasingly strident opposition to the war on the part of Congressional Democrats, the US News Political Bulletin has learned that President Bush's is "confident" that Democrats "won't be able to muster support for withdrawing from Iraq no matter what legislative gambit they use." White House spokesman Tony Snow told the Bulletin, "Pretty soon Congress is going to have to make a binding commitment to support the troops." White House officials "don't think that majority Democrats, in the end, will have the votes or the gumption to vote down the funding."
The White House is also "heartened" that the three leading candidates for the Republican presidential nomination -- Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, and Mitt Romney "are holding firm in support of President Bush's Iraq policy" and "insisting on victory." And in a sign that his party is not yet ready to abandon the president, The Hill notes "nearly all of those" House Republicans "who narrowly survived in 2006" voted with Bush on the resolution opposing the so-called "surge" in Iraq. According to the Hill, of the 17 House Republicans who voted with Democrats on the resolution, "only one of them," Rep. James Walsh, "was among the approximately 20 House Republicans who won in 2006 by less than 5 percent."
The Washington Times reports that the surge resolution vote has already opened some fissures within the GOP. Conservative radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt's Victory Caucus is looking for primary opponents for the 17 congressmen and seven senators who opposed the president's surge plan. Of course Democrats are not immune to such intra-party recriminations as is made perfectly clear in a long, front-page Washington Post article on Rep. Ellen O. Tauscher, the "outspoken" chair of the centrist New Democrat Coalition, whom "progressive blogs" have labeled "a traitor to her party." MoveOn.org activists are "accusing her of helping President Bush send more troops to Iraq."
Meanwhile, the AP reports from Japan that Vice President Cheney, during his visit there, "reaffirmed" the Bush administration's "commitment to the increasingly unpopular" war in Iraq, saying "the American people will not support a policy of retreat."
In what is being interpreted as a setback for President Bush, despite the White House's protestations, the New York Times reports British Prime Minister Tony Blair is expected to announce Wednesday that "up to 1,500 of the 7,000 British troops in southern Iraq will begin withdrawing in coming weeks." NSC spokesman Gordon Johndroe said that President Bush and Blair had spoken to each another on Tuesday and that Bush "sees this as a sign of success and what is possible for us once we help the Iraqis deal with the sectarian violence in Baghdad."
According to the Financial Times, in a statement to the House of Commons, Blair "will present the reduction in troop numbers as an initially modest move that does not undermine the UK's fighting capability." The Washington Times notes the British "handed over security responsibility for two of their four provinces to Iraqis last year and abandoned their main base in a third." The Los Angeles Times says the announcement "follows the British government's pledge to consider drawing down troops this year as the Iraqi military and police shoulder more responsibility for quelling sectarian violence." USA Today quotes Jeffrey White, an Iraq military expert at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, who said the move is 'not a good news story from the point of view of security" because "the British presence in southern Iraq 'acted as a check on a whole slew of bad guys.'" According to the AP, Blair is not expected to provide a deadline for "when the rest of Britain's forces would leave Iraq." ABC World News added that the British "want to send more troops in Afghanistan. They're stretched thin."
The AP reports a Justice Department audit found Federal prosecutors "counted immigration violations, marriage fraud and drug trafficking among anti-terror cases in the four years after 9/11 even though no evidence linked them to terror activity." Nearly "all of the terrorism-related statistics on investigations, referrals and cases examined by department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine were either diminished or inflated." McClatchy notes the Justice Department "defended its tracking system and the inclusion of cases that aren't directly linked to terrorism." The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune and Washington Times, among other sources, also reports the story.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys on Tuesday delivered closing arguments in the perjury and obstruction of justice trial of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby. The CBS Evening News reported prosecutors "told the jury today there is a cloud over the Vice President's role in the case because they say Libby obstructed justice. The defense contends Libby did nothing wrong and the case is about faulty memories." Fox News' Special Report says special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald "got the last word saying that the Vice President's office was obsessed with the Wilson trip and used his wife as a weapon against him." And NBC Nightly News reported Fitzgerald "got political too, saying because Libby lied and obstructed justice, 'a cloud still hangs over the Vice President.'"
The Los Angeles Times also notes "Fitzgerald argued that Cheney's office was behind many of the prewar claims that Iraq had stockpiles of banned weapons and that it had aggressively sought to silence critics." The New York Times notes that "the prosecutors presented a detailed and businesslike summing up of their case."
The Financial Times and Washington Post run similar reports on the closing arguments, while Dana Milbank in his Washington Post "Washington Sketch" column is critical of the "cohesion of" defense attorney Ted Wells' "closing arguments. Libby was alternately portrayed as a man who told the truth, a man who inadvertently misspoke, and the victim of conspiracies involving everybody from President Bush to Tim Russert."
In a widely-distributed story, the AP reports deputy prosecutor Peter Zeidenberg pointed to a flow chart showing arrows tracking information from several officials to Libby and on to other sources. With each conversation, it became less likely the CIA operative would just slip Libby's mind." Using a "similar chart," Wells "noted their memory inconsistencies." USA Today notes "a tearful" Wells told jurors, "Don't...sacrifice Scooter Libby for how you may feel about the war in Iraq or about the Bush administration." The Washington Post also runs a generally sympathetic profile of Wells, saying "a portrait emerges of a tough defense attorney who has mastered the balance between easygoing and hard-charging."
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Hollywood's high rollers came out yesterday at a high-dollar fundraising event for Sen. Barack Obama in Los Angeles. The AP reports, "Checks from Hollywood's A-list stars such as George Clooney, Eddie Murphy and Barbra Streisand added up to a one-night take of $1.3 million for" Obama, who "told an audience that included Spielberg, Oscar nominee Eddie Murphy, actress Jennifer Anniston and singer Jackson Browne that they have 'enormous power' that comes with 'enormous responsibility' because of their impact on American culture." The Washington Post adds that organizers "said they expected the freshman senator to leave town flush not only with money but also with valuable connections in a city that has for decades served as a lifeline for Democratic presidential contenders." The Sacramento Bee reports that Obama, "suddenly a darling of liberal anti-war activists in Hollywood," is now competing with Sen. Hillary Clinton "on a gilded political fundraising circuit long considered the home turf for Sen. Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton. 'I've never found a candidate easier to raise money for,' said former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Steve Westly, one of Obama's California co-chairs."
In another indicator of the fast start to the 2008 presidential campaign, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's campaign is going on the air in a number of early primary states starting today. Fox News' Special Report says that in "an unprecedentedly early move for position," Romney "has launched the first multi-state ad blitz of the campaign, hoping to define himself on his own terms by touching on both socially and fiscally conservative issues." Romney ad: "I believe the American people are overtaxed and the government is overfed. I believe our laws ought to be written by the people and not by unelected judges." The New York Times reports the ads "are an early move to inform Republican primary voters about his views and record at a time when he has come under some criticism by opponents for shifting his views on several issues." The Boston Herald adds that the "TV blitz" is aimed "at allowing Romney to establish himself on his own terms." He's "recently been on the defense addressing such issues as gay marriage and abortion."
A number of news outlets reported that the ads were going to run in five states (Iowa, New Hampshire, Florida, Michigan and South Carolina), but a brief item in the State (SC) reports that Romney's camp says that the ad is not, in fact, going to run in South Carolina this week.
An independent Quinnipiac University poll out this morning shows Sen. Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani leading their respective presidential primary fields. On the GOP side, Giuliani leads among likely primary voters with 40%, followed by Sen. John McCain, 18%; Newt Gingrich, 7%; and Mitt Romney 7%; with all other candidates at 2% or less. It's a bit closer on the Democratic side, with Clinton leading with 38%, followed by Sen. Barack Obama, 23%; Al Gore, 11%; and John Edwards, 6%. All other Democrats are at 2% or less.
In head-to-head presidential match ups, Giuliani tops Clinton 48%-43%, while McCain beats Clinton 46%-44%. Obama fares only marginally better than Clinton Giuliani leads him 47%-40%, while McCain ties him 43%-43%. Most important, perhaps, for Giuliani, he ties Clinton in "blue" states that went for Kerry by 7% or more in 2004, 46%-46%.
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USA Today reports that eight Democratic hopefuls, including all the big names except Sen. Barack Obama, are converging on Carson City, Nevada today for a candidate's forum. The attendance highlights Nevada's new role as an early presidential primary state, with its caucus now scheduled to fall between Iowa and New Hampshire.
The Washington Post reports this morning that South Dakota Sen. Tim Johnson (D) is out of the hospital and into a rehab facility more than two months after suffering a brain hemorrhage. ABC World News notes that Democrats, who have a narrow 51-49 margin in the Senate, have been playing one man short while Johnson recovers.
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Jay Leno: "You know about this? JetBlue -- they announced they're introducing a customer bill of rights. And President Bush announced today he will also ignore this bill of rights."
Jay Leno: "You all have a nice President's Day yesterday? A day off? President Bush marked the occasion in his usual way, by ignoring the other two branches of government."
David Letterman: "You're saying to yourselves, where is Vice President Dick Cheney? I'll tell you. Right now he's in Tokyo. He's in Tokyo over there and he's taking part in a pep rally for United States troops. Because when you think Dick Cheney, you think pep!"
Conan O'Brien: "Things getting very nasty in Washington today. Today, the White House denied an assertion by Senator Harry Reid that the Iraq war is 'the worst foreign policy mistake in US history.' They denied it, yeah. White House said, 'You have to realize that President Bush has two more years in office.' Give it time. Give it time."
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