Verizon Business, a unit of No. 2 U.S. telephone service provider Verizon Communications Inc (VZ.N), said on Wednesday it has won a contract with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security worth around $678.5 million over 10 years.
… AT&T Government Solutions, a business unit of AT&T Inc (T.N), won a $292 million contract to serve as the secondary network service provider in the Eastern and Western region.

And nothing for Quest.  Read more 

To know her is to love her:

Cheney’s memory is a great fallacy that haunts us today, just as the misbegotten Iraq war will haunt us 30 years from now. It was a huge mistake to pardon Richard Nixon and I say that as someone who thought it was the right thing to do at the time. I was very young and had a soft heart and thought that it was gratuitous to punish him more after his terrible humiliation and that it would be good for the country to “move on.”

Allowing Nixon to get away with his crimes while his fellow Republicans angrily stewed over the injustice of his downfall is what led to the ongoing usurpation of the constitution under Republican rule. They believe the president is above the law and the constitution. Why wouldn’t they? They do these things and there’s no accountability so they do it again the first chance they get, always upping the ante. When they finally lose an election and take a breather from illegal wars and pillaging and shredding the constitution, the Democrats are so busy beating back political attacks and trying to clean up the mess that they decide accountability isn’t worth it. They “bind up the wounds” allowing the infection to fester until the next time it happens.  Read more 

Won’t happen anytime soon. Why? Because there are more high ranking, trannie/gay/metrosexual/perv Republicans who worry about such a law than any large gathering of liberals and progressives could ever produce.

We’re not ashamed of what we do, who we are, who we love. They are. There have been many times in history when pr0n has safeguarded freedom; this is one of them. The domestic use of the FISA laws is your guide; they spy because they expect to find us doing what they are, and they can’t imagine life without hatred, fear and perversion. And they despise us not only because we can, but because we are/do.

Just because it’s so much more fun to talk about, never mind the DCOW link:

Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas), a certified public accountant, had pushed for months for an internal audit of the National Republican Congressional Committee, according to GOP members, but the committee’s treasurer at the time was reluctant.

Finally, at a recent meeting, the now former NRCC treasurer, Christopher J. Ward, relented, giving Conaway what was supposed to be an official internal audit from 2006. That document was a fake, the GOP members said. Even the letterhead on which it was sent was a forgery.  Read more 

“If the House had nothing better to do, this futile partisan act would be a waste of time,” said Dana Perino, the White House spokeswoman. “The ’people’s House’ should reflect the priorities of the American people, not the fantasies of left-wing bloggers.”“

Thanks for caring, honey.

Oh, Congress held some administration officials in contempt. Good on them, I hope it’s backed up with some jail time.

Via Digby:

Delahunt: You said if an opinion was rendered, that would insulate him from any consequences.

[Mike Mukasey, Attorney General of the United States, before the House Judiciary Committee today]: We could not investigate or prosecute somebody for acting in reliance on a justice department opinion.

…

Delahunt: If that opinion was inaccurate and in fact violated a section of US Criminal Code, that reliance is in effect an immunity from any criminal culpability.

MM: Immunity connoted culpability. [Well, is anyone culpable? -scar]

…

Delahunt: I find that a new legal doctrine. The law is the law.  Read more 

Nothing fails like prayer.

The team appointed to oversee Ted Haggard’s “spiritual restoration” after scandal forced him to end his ministry at New Life Church has agreed to his request to end their oversite of his recovery program.

New Life Church issued a statement Tuesday saying it believes the termination of the relationship is premature, but would not say why. Earlier in the process, church leaders had said they assumed that Haggard’s recovery could take several years.

The Colorado Springs evangelical congregation that Haggard founded also said it remains convinced that he should not return to any church ministry.  Read more 

My point: this is going on all over, from the Federal gov’t to the MIC complex to diplomatic agencies. I’m posting these two pieces because it gives us a glimpse into a culture of corruption the SCLM rarely covers, but is everywhere. A str8 Republican! No, really!

ouston, Texas) The district attorney who defended the Texas law criminalizing homosexuality before the US Supreme Court is desperately trying to keep his job following the discovery of e-mails containing sexually explicit videos, racist jokes and what is described as torrid love notes to his executive secretary.

Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal (R) is facing a state investigation into the emails which were discovered on his office computer.

…

Rosenthal who argued before the US Supreme Court that the Texas law against sodomy was upholding the moral values of the state and was in place to protect families. The case was Lawrence v Texas.  Read more 

Many have pointed out the acts of President George W. Bush and his cabal as being “criminal.” Take, for example, the words of Keith Olbermann:

It is a fact startling in its cynical simplicity and it requires cynical and simple words to be properly expressed: The presidency of George W. Bush has now devolved into a criminal conspiracy to cover the ass of George W. Bush.

…

Now if that’s what this is all about, you tortured not because you’re so stupid you think torture produces confession but you tortured because you’re smart enough to know it produces really authentic-sounding fiction - well, then, you’re going to need all the lawyers you can find … because that crime wouldn’t just mean impeachment, would it?

That crime would mean George W. Bush is going to prison.

I so admire the glibness of Mr. Olbermann, the sharpness of his language and most of all, his passion.

However, under Article II, Section 2 of the United States Constitution, President George W. Bush, and all those he chooses to include in pardons, will never be prosecuted for crimes committed against the United States absent impeachment.  Read more 

Before the Mitchell Report came out yesterday, we were a nation in crisis over the continuing steroid hullabaloo in Major League Baseball. Identifying this problem and naming names has finally addressed the most pressing issue of our time, aside from teh gay and teh brown people.

Anywho, if you have a little unused outrage bandwith, might I suggest you take a gander at this pretty Troubletown Cartoon (via the indispensible uggabugga) cataloguing all the scandals that have occurred during the current Administration.

I thought I would perform a public service and transcribe this little nugget. It’s an awfully handy menu to refer to and I’m sure FeralLiberalcould recommend an amusing bottle of wine or homemade moonshine to accompany it. Enjoy!  Read more 

Today we will get that credit crunch “Plan” the occupied white house has been trumpeting about, that will give relief to only those home buyers who can meet and have been meeting scheduled payments on their sub-prime loans, and has been bought into by mortgage financers.

The administration is finally forced to act because it is threatened with actual solutions to the overall problems being offered in Congress. This patch on a bursting industry is being pressured out of an industry that knows it has taken the whole country into highly dangerous territory by its greed and mammoth malfunctions. The small number of loans affected will help to boost that new Gold Standard, ’consumer confidence’. That may save the country from disaster, but as I reported in my post earlier this week, most industry insiders are dubious.  Read more 

So, let me run this silly post by you, due to a phone conversation I just had with an econ-minded friend.

If a stranger, with a gun, walked up to you and your family, and pointed it at you, and said, “give me 30 grand, and another 60 for your wife and kid, Right Now, or I’ll kill you!” would you do it?  Read more 

I took the opportunity yesterday of watching seven hours of the Office of Thrift supervision forum on home funding, with four panels and several speakers. The occupied White House couldn’t have the news there get out, so it defrauded the public of real reporters by sending them on a wild goose chase.

Secretary of the Treasury Paulson scooped all the real news by announcing his vague plans to get the mortgage servicing industry to commit to freeze rates and bail out the industry.  Read more 

Get a load of this:

The head of the federal agency investigating Karl Rove’s White House political operation is facing allegations that he improperly deleted computer files during another probe, using a private computer-help company, Geeks on Call.

Scott Bloch runs the Office of Special Counsel, an agency charged with protecting government whistleblowers and enforcing a ban on federal employees engaging in partisan political activity. Mr. Bloch’s agency is looking into whether Mr. Rove and other White House officials used government agencies to help re-elect Republicans in 2006.

At the same time, Mr. Bloch has himself been under investigation since 2005. At the direction of the White House, the federal Office of Personnel Management’s inspector general is looking into claims that Mr. Bloch improperly retaliated against employees and dismissed whistleblower cases without adequate examination.

Recently, investigators learned that Mr. Bloch erased all the files on his office personal computer late last year. They are now trying to determine whether the deletions were improper or part of a cover-up, lawyers close to the case said.

So, to recap: Karl Rove is accused of retaliating against employees and then illegally deleting the evidence. The man in charge of investigating him is accused of retaliating against employees and then deleting evidence.

Fuck. This. Shit.

Wait, though, it gets better!  Read more 

Sigh. It’s getting too easy. Guys, just come out already. But remember: teens are still off limits. There are plenty of legal and pretty young men who will be happy to satisfy you.

The chairman of the Republican Party in Brown County faces criminal charges for allegedly fondling a 16-year-old Ethan House runaway and providing the boy with beer and marijuana late last year.

Donald Fleischman, 37, of Allouez, was charged last month with two counts of child enticement, two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a child and a single charge of exposing himself to a child.  Read more 

Anyone who got the opportunity to watch proceedings on the floor of the House of Representatives yesterday got a treat. Rep. Abercrombie’s House Resolution 400 was up for debate. The GoPervs opposed it.

H. Res. 400 establishes a fine of $1 MN, or twice the amount in ill-gotten gains the contractor got, for defrauding the government/people. Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia brazenly led the GoPerverted assault on the bill. Of course, even slime like this admit they favor what the resolution accomplishes. His grounds, like most grounds the GoPervs have used this year to oppose any public interest legislation, are spurious. He claimed that it would stifle innovation. Yep, cut off at the roots all those grand schemes to defraud the public.

The party of perversion has declared war on any productivity for the public this legislation session. That is its revenge on voters for putting them in the minority.  Read more 

Reading this morning about the maladministration of Myanmar brought home to me the potential for abuse that incompetent government commits.

As we watch the present executive branch degenerate into a ragtag bunch of political hacks such as FEMA director Brown of Katrina infamy, we need to be aware that this isn’t petty theft. It is a harbinger of real dangers for this country.

In the case of Myanmar, the people have no choice but to try overthrowing their government, as they are literally starving.

In our case, we still can activate real involvement in our government before it comes to that state. It can’t be accomplished, though, without direct involvement. Protests are one way, blogs are another, involving friends is another, and getting out voters who are bright enough to see what’s happening is a really good way.  Read more 

Another bit meltdown in the U.K. comes when the value of the bonds they’re holding appears to be nil. Just don’t forget that we’re supposed to be the bailout source here.

If you still believe that we’re going to bail out the little guys who bought under false pretenses, instead of the bigtime crooks who convinced them it was going to be safe, the home market would always go up, history no longer applies - look at this nice bridge I’m selling at a big loss.  Read more 

Offered without comment, except to say that McClatchy Rawks!

MEXICO CITY — U.S. authorities are assisting the Mexican government in the investigation of an American business jet that crashed near Cancun this week with four tons of cocaine on board, officials said Thursday.  Read more 

Actually, I’m not so upset about this- it appears that at least some Congresscritters are on this. I don’t know if they will be able to fix the problem, and $10B is just a drop in the bucket of what we’re about to spend in Iraq. Still, the reason I think this story is important is that I believe it is being repeated, in every government agency, from top to bottom. The rule of law is truly dead in this country, and I guess I’m on a mission to get more people to understand that. Kudos to the Old Grey Ho for being on this, although I’m sure if I looked around, I would find a blogger who beat them to it:

The report, a result of a yearlong investigation, grew out of complaints by four auditors at the agency, who said that senior administration officials had blocked them from recovering money from oil companies that underpaid the government.

…

In one case, senior officials decided that it would impose a “hardship” on oil companies to demand that they calculate the back interest they owed after having been caught underpaying. The agency itself was years behind in billing the companies, because its computers could not perform the calculations.  Read more