Our Flock: The Diva Roxanne

The original denizen of the Ballard Rain Forest:

Time to Frog March Karl Rove Into Jail!

On February 23, Karl Rove was supposed to testify before the House Judiciary Committee in accordance with a Congressional subpoena. But Rove didn't show up. Again.

Rove didn't show up last year when he was ordered to testify, because his old friend President Bush said that Rove's testimony was protected by executive privilege. Now that Bush is no longer in office, we may finally have an opportunity to learn the truth about his alleged misdeeds, from authorizing voter suppression tactics to orchestrating the arrest of Alabama Governor Don Siegelman.

But even though we have a new president, Karl Rove is still acting like he's entitled to all the privileges that came with his old job.

The Obama administration has the power to clarify that Rove no longer has access to the "executive privilege" line of defense — since the executive in question is no longer in office. If that happened, a judge would have a lot more power to compel Rove to comply with the subpoena, and we might finally begin to learn the truth about his activities.

Whig Redux

Whig (hwig, wig), n.

1.   Amer. Hist.

      b. a member of a political party (c1834–1855) that was formed in opposition to the Democratic party, and favored economic expansion and a high protective tariff, while opposing the strength of the presidency in relation to the legislature.

Whig Party (United States)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The party was ultimately destroyed by the question of whether to allow the expansion of slavery to the territories. With deep fissures in the party on this question, the anti-slavery faction successfully prevented the nomination of its own incumbent President Fillmore in the 1852 presidential election; instead, the party nominated General Winfield Scott, who was soundly defeated. Its leaders quit politics (as Lincoln did temporarily) or changed parties. The voter base defected to the Republican Party, various coalition parties in some states, and to the Democratic Party. By the 1856 presidential election, the party had lost its ability to maintain a national coalition of effective state parties and endorsed Millard Fillmore, now of the American Party, at its last national convention.

Don't say History doesn't repeat itself! The Republican Party Whigs Out!

Caffeine May Kill Skin Cancer Cells

More great news for us coffee addicts!

Denizens of the Ballard Rain Forest Close Up

The Joker: Deck of 54 War Criminal Playing Cards: Karl Christian Rove

Probably no one exemplifies the Dark Side as well as the ironically named Karl Christian Rove! His role as The Joker has been a work in progress since his college days breakin into the campaign office of Illinois Treasurer candidate Alan Dixon to steal campaign letterhead to print fake campaign flyers. A classic chickenhawk, who maintained a student deferrment during the Vietnam War years, and protege of Watergate conspirator Donald Sengretti, Rove painted World War II bomber pilot George McGovern as a left wing peacenik! Rove later helped Swift Boat another war veteran John Kerry! Rove appropriately learned to dig through opponent's trash cans during the Watergate scandal.

The master of rascist innuendo and scare tactics, Karl Rove engineered the smear of John McCain's 2000 presidential campaign with the allegation that McCain fathered an illegitimate black child. Rove was responsible for the terror warnings during the 2004 campaign, whenever John Kerry's poll numbers went up.

Karl Rove's pranks and scaremongering reached the level of war crimes with his organization and direction of the White House Iraq Group, beginning eight months prior to the invasion of Iraq. Karl Rove became the Joseph Goebbels of the Bush Administration, the Propaganda Minister who strove to convince the American public that black was white, and day was night, all apparent evidence to the contrary notwithstanding. Further, Rove helped leak the identity of the CIA operative Valery Plame, a federal offense if ever there was one, even if he did manage to avoid prosecution! Karl Rove helped engineer the dismissal of the U.S. Attorneys not proactive enough in prosecuting Democratic opponents.

Crime and Punishment

We are already making great progress in moving forward on President Obama's agenda — but the memory remains of a president and vice president whose disregard for our founding principles will be their true historical legacy. On January 6th, House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers introduced House Resolution 104, "to establish a national commission on presidential war powers and civil liberties." The bill would impanel a Blue Ribbon Commission to investigate potential crimes and Constitutional violations committed by the Bush Administration under the seemingly impenetrable curtain of "unreviewable war powers." The commission would be comprised of non-governmental experts on the relevant subject matter, and it would have the subpoena powers necessary to do their important work.

This is a critically important piece of legislation — without it, we may never know the breadth of crimes committed by Bush Administration officials, what lengths they went to in order to dupe the public into a war that has cost thousands of lives, or how many innocent men and women have been kidnapped and tortured and denied due process in violation of both the Geneva Convention and our own Constitution. Additionally, the legislation would only cost $3 million — pocket change in the world of Congressional appropriations.

Americans deserve to know the truth about the Bush Administration's alleged crimes — and we need to make sure no president ever repeats them. We are hopeful about the future, but that does not mean we can afford not to be vigilant about our past.