Does He Have a Prayer?

Former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore is running as a Republican for Governor of Alabama.

He was fired from his Justice job for refusing to remove a ten commandments monument from state property.

Judge Moore will face Gov Bob Riley (R-AL) in the June 6, Republican primary. (MSNBC)

Rep Jefferson in Deep Trouble -- Again

An aide to Rep William Jefferson (D-LA) has accused his former boss of demanding bribes for pushing telecom deals in Africa.

Brett Pfeffer has pleaded guilty to bribery and conspiracy charges. He rolled over on his former boss.

You may remember Rep Jefferson from the days after Hurricane Katrina. He was the Congressman who took National Guardsmen, a heavy truck and a helicopter away from rescue and relief duty to get personal belongings out of his flooded house. (MSNBC)

Election Day

Hotline on Call reports that House Republicans will elect their new Majority Leader at 1:00 pm, Thursday, February 2. (Hotline)

Making Sure Quakers Sow No Wild Oats

The NSA was supposed to be watching terrorists so they couldn't launch a sneak attack. Instead, they spied on how Quakers inflated balloons for peace rallies. Feel safer yet?


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The folks who brought you warrantless wiretaps have been hard at work measuring the size of Quakers' balloons.

The Raw Story has gotten hold of several pages of documents from the National Securiy Agency.

They show that while Osama bin Laden remains free, the nation's premier intel operation has been spying on a Baltimore-based Quaker group opposed to the Iraq War.

The outfit's called "Pledge of Resistance-Baltimore."

The documents suggest the NSA was interested in monitoring balloons the protestors carried in marches. And they apparently checked out the Quakers -- a historically pacifist Christian group -- for weapons of mass destruction.

Let's face it. Baltimore is just up the road from the NSA's offices and Quakers don't shoot back. A lot easier than tramping around in Pakistan and Afghanistan looking for real terrorists. (TRS)

NSA IG Probes Wiretaps

The National Security Agency's inspector general has launched an investigation into the legality of the

Thirty-nine House Democrats wrote to the Pentagon's IG last month. They asked him to look into the legality of the warrantless wiretapping program.

He has since told them he would not investigate because of the NSA IG's ongoing probe. (WashPost)

Is That Trip Really Necessary?

Stinging from the Abramoff scandal -- and likely to take heat on the campaign trail this year -- House Republicans are hammering out a package of lobbying reforms.

Under consideration: a plan to ban all trips for Congress members and their staffs paid for by lobbyists.

If they travel, it'd have to be paid for out of the Congressional budget. (NYT)

Is He in Your Dead Pool for 2006

The Associated Press has its own medical records for Vice President Dick Cheney:

• 1978: Cheney's first heart attack, at age 37. He quit smoking that year.
• 1984: His second heart attack.
• 1988: After suffering his third heart attack, Cheney had quadruple bypass surgery in August to clear clogged arteries.
• 2000: Cheney suffered what doctors called a "very slight" heart attack, his fourth, and underwent an angioplasty to open a clogged artery. Cheney began a daily 30-minute regimen on the treadmill and began eating healthier. He also began taking medication to lower his cholesterol.
• March 5, 2001: Just over 100 days later, Cheney felt chest pains and underwent another angioplasty to reopen the same artery.
• June 30, 2001: Cheney returned to the hospital and had a special pacemaker called an implantable cardioverter defibrillator, or ICD, inserted into his chest. During his 2004 annual checkup, doctors said the device had never automatically activated to regulate, which they said meant the heart was functioning normally.
• Nov. 13, 2004: Cheney entered the hospital after complaining of shortness of breath. He left after three hours. An aide said tests found no abnormalities.
• Sept. 24, 2005: He underwent surgery to repair an arterial aneurysm on the back of each knee.
• Jan. 9, 2006: Cheney is taken to a Washington hospital experiencing shortness of breath attributed to fluid retention as a result of medication for a foot problem. He is placed on a diuretic and released after a few hours."

But the Ray-Bans Looked Killer

The Los Angeles Police Department says Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA) was riding his motorcycle illegally over the weekend when he collided with a car.

The LAPD says the Governor does not have the proper endorsement on his California driver's license to operate a motorcycle.

But the police didn't ticket the governor for a violation because they arrived after the accident.

Gov Schwarzenegger recieved a cut on his upper lip that required 15 stitches.

And he failed to catch Sarah Connor. (MSNBC)

Here Comes the New Boss -- Same as the Old Boss

The Washington Post reports both candidates in the House leadership race have extensive ties to the same K Street lobbying world that caused problems for Rep Tom DeLay.

Rep John Boehner (R-OH) and Rep Roy Blunt (R-MO) want to replace Rep DeLay. The Post reports they both have links to the same lobbying firms involved in the Abramoff scandal. (WashPost)

To the Left...March!

The Atlantic Monthly looks into the phenomenon of more than 30 military veterans running for Congress as Democrats in the 2006 elections.

This sort of thing was common after past wars -- when there was a draft. It's highly unusual in the era of the all volunteer force where only a small percentage of the population ever serves.

"What you're looking at now is fairly unusual. This is the first time post-1975 that you're seeing a group emerge that specifically wants to get involved in politics." -- Richard Kohn, Chair of the Curriculum in Peace, War, and Defense, University of North Carolina.

Joshua Green's analysis starts with the story of Command Sergeant Major Tim Waltz. He and two young students were denied access to a speech by President Bush in 2004, because one of the boys had a John Kerry sticker on his wallet. (Atlantic Monthly, HT: Hotline)

Abramoff Timeline Haunts Majority Leader Candidate

Hotline on Call has links to a timeline showing Rep Roy Blunt's (R-MO) (left) ties to lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Rep Blunt is in the running to replace Rep Tom DeLay (R-TX) as House Majority Leader. The Hotline reports that the timeline, showing contributions from Mr Abramoff and actions by Rep Blunt, is circulating among Republicans in Congress.

A source tells Hotline the timeline was generated by a Missouri Democrat. (Hotline)

Build It -- And the Terrorists Will Come

Iowa wants your tax dollars to protect their donuts.

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Would you believe there are 11,000 potential terrorist targets...in Iowa?

Neither did the Des Moines Register.

They got their hands on their state's list of critical infrastructure last summer and were surprised at what their government told Washington just had to be protected from a 9/11 style attack.

The list would be used to get Homeland Security money from Washington.

Eleven thousand targets seemed a little much.

So the state has finally whittled it down to thirteen-hundred, sixty potential targets...including the Krispy Kreme in Clive.

Experts say it should be closer to 50 or 100 potential risks -- tops.

Things still on the list:

• The Boone Railroad Museum
• The De Soto National Wildlife Refuge in Harrison County
• The Grotto of the Redemption shrine in West Bend

Oh, Yeah. And the Field of Dreams movie site in Dyersville.

I guess they figured "if you build it, the terrorists will come."

Spying on Reporters? Or Political Opponents?

Did the White House spy on reporters as part of the wiretapping scandal? And did they pick up any juicy tidbits about the Kerry Campaign in 2004 through the warrantless wiretaps?

Twenty-three US Congress members are asking the White House about that. They've fired off a letter to President Bush requesting information about some of the potential targets of the warrantless wiretapping order.

We told you yesterday how NBC disclosed that CNN reporter Christiane Amanpour (right) may have had her phone calls bugged. The Congressmen ask in their letter whether any reporters or other members of the media were targeted.

The Raw Story has the complete text of the letter.

Shades of Watergate?

Meanwhile, Tim Grieve at Salon.com points out that Ms Amanpour's husband is Jamie Rubin -- a former Clinton State Department appointee and member of the John Kerry Presidential campaign in 2004 -- when the wiretapping program was in full swing:

If the Bush administration was listening in on Amanpour's phone, was it listening when she talked with her husband? Was it listening when he might have used her phone himself?

Mr Grieve points out nothing's been proven about any Amanpour wiretap -- but says when you go around the rules -- like the administration did with the domestic spying program -- you invite these kinds of questions.

Update, Friday Afternoon: Trust Us, We're the NSA

The National Security Agency said Friday afternoon that they had never tapped Ms Amanpour's phone.

Generally spy shops will "neither confirm nor deny" things such as thins. But the issue had gotten such play -- and the matter of warrantless wiretaps has caused such bad PR for an agency that went through similar problems in the 1970s -- that they looked int the matter right away when CNN called.

But considering the questions of truthfullness already raised in the administration's handling of hte wiretap scandal -- don't expect the story to die anytime soon. (TRS/Salon.com)

Abramoff Triggers GOP Retooling

The Abramoff plea bargin has sent House Republicans scrambling. Acting Majority Leader Roy Blunt (R-MO) (left) is expected to ask his party to make his post permanent -- replacing Rep Tom DeLay (R-TX).

That may only be the tip of the iceberg as Republicans -- worried that the scandal could cost them control of Congress -- reshape their leadership to ride out the scandal. (WashPost)

Mercury Blues

There's something fishy about the way your government polices the seafood you eat.

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There's a good chance you'll get more mercury in your seafood than what the government says is safe.

The Chicago Tribune has a three-part series on the presence of mercury in fish sold in supermarkets.

Reporters found out that mercury is more of a problem than what the government has been telling us.

We know that mercury can cause learning disabilities in children...and neurological problems in adults.

Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) calls it “one of the nation’s most comprehensive studies of mercury in commercial fish."

The newspaper commissioned labs to test a variety of popular seafood. The Tribune also dug up documents and conducted interviews looking into the problem of mercury in seafood.

The results showed the seafood was so tainted that federal regulators could confiscate the fish for violating food safety rules.

One piece of sword fish the paper tested showed it had three times the legal limit of mercury.

Documents show that the federal government seldom test's fish entering the US for mercury or other metals. They also found evidence that regulators often made decisions to benefit the industry...at the expense of your health.

The paper says that makes it difficult for you to avoid mercury in your fish, no matter where you buy it.

Pat's Back, Blaming God Again

Pat Robertson says Ariel Sharon was "struck down for dividing God's land."




Sure it wasn't the fact he's 77, had heart surgery that led to two strokes in a month -- made worse from blood thinner he was taking?

The comments came today on that laugh-a-minute 700 Club.

No word yet on what's behind the Texas and Oklahoma brush fires or California flooding. (The Washington Note)

We're Only Spying on Terrorists

Steve Clemons at The Washington Note suggests UN Ambassador John Bolton bolstered his career when he got wind of the warrantless wiretaps.

TWN hints the domestic spying probe tapped into communications that included:

• Gov (and Potential 2008 Presidential Candidate) Bill Richardson (D-NM)
• Former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage
• Former Assistant Secretary of State John Wolf
• Assistant Secretary of State William Burns
• US Ambassador to Iraq (and former UN Ambassador) John Negroponte

Mr Clemons suggests that Ambassador Bolton -- while serving in the State Department -- became aware of the secret spying and used it to get around his rivals at the Department -- namely Colin Powell and Mr Armitage.

Mr Clemons bases his theory on a series of NSA intercepts Mr Bolton requested. The names had been blacked out -- but the content suggests at least two of the people mentioned above were targets of the eavesdropping. (The Washington Note)