"ROTUICPIA - Iraq": CIA Intelligence Report Does Not Really Discredit Joe Wilson - But It Contains a Frightening Sentence

I have downloaded and am in the process of reading the much-referred to CIA Intelligence Committee Report that -- according to John Fund of the Wall Street Journal -- reveals former Ambassador Joe Wilson -- husband of "outed" CIA Agent Valerie Plame -- to be a liar regarding her CIA status. It's called "Report On The US Intelligence Community's Prewar Intelligence Assessment on Iraq" - or what I will call "ROTUICPIA - Iraq." (Pronounced "Roo-Took-Pee-Ah" -- Yes, I coined this term for the record!)

Well, I did go right to the Page 46 he referred to on CNN Personality Paula Zahn's show this night, and for good measure kept reading.

ROTUICPIA - Iraq says that the "former US Ambassador's report" was "good" on a scale of "excellent" "good" "bad" and "poor." And it does state in detail that there was little reason to believe that there was a uranium deal between Iraq and Niger (the source of the statement President Bush made in his 2003 State of The Union address when he said that the administration had reason to believe that Iraq was receiving the material to make nuclear weapons from African -- Niger is in Africa). But it also details that there seemed to be counter-intelligence reports on the deal. Specifically one report that has been pointed to as "forged" -- in other words faked.

ROTUICPIA - Iraq states that Wilson's analysis "didn't provide any new information" and so the CIA representative didn't tell the Vice President's Office about it. This, even though they grade the report as "good" -- and even though it claims that there was no deal between the Iraqi's and Niger's government for weapons-grade uranium.

ROTUICPIA - Iraq continues and details how the Director's Office of the CIA evolved from receiving information that there was no deal between Iraq and Niger to fashioning a belief that there was a deal at least in the works. In this, it reads that there seemed to be an attempt to promote the deal as real, and bury any information that would give pause to any policy leading to invading Iraq on this basis.

I don't know what John Fund was reading, but it's apparent he didn't do his homework. The Bush Administration's in a fine mess, and much of the structure of the puzzle that must be solved is contained in ROTUICPIA - Iraq

Read it carefully.

In closing, I don't think Wilson was interested in revealing his wife's identify or coming close to it, so he may have sought not to mention her but still achieve the objective of explaining the Bush Administration's ignorance of the truth regarding any Iraq / Niger deal.

I think what the WSJ writer forgot was that Wilson would be outing not only his own wife, but a CIA agent. So, he may have lied, but it was to protect an American Agent and to avoid breaking the law. That's far different than the reason for the investigation that has -- so far-- snagged I. L. "Scooter" Libby.

It also may be -- and I think -- that he got wind of the fact that his report was never shared with Vice President Cheney and hit the ceiling.

I certainly would have done so.

I Lewis "Scooter" Libby Resigns - First Piece of The Downing Street Memo Controversy Obtained

According to the article on MTV that can be seen with a click on the title, "Scooter" Libby resigned and is under indictment for perjury, obtruction of justice, and false statements. Also, Karl Rove is still under investigation.

The Special Council, Patrick Fitzgerald, said that any action revealing the identity of a CIA operative at a time when we (the USA) need to have more agents, is not in itself acceptable. I personally believe that Mr. Libby knew that he was "outing" a CIA operative, but was trying to skirt the law -- he was caught.

I write this because no seasoned public official at so high a level would make an obvious breach of the law regarding revealing the identify of an American Agent.

There's also no comparison betweeen this and the President Clinton / Monica Lewinsky Affair. That was a case of marital infidelity -- this is a case of alledged treason against a covert agent of the United States of America.

Moreover, this seems to be the first break in the effort to gather information to prove The Downing Street Memo, the document written by a Brit policy advisor to the PM which claimed rather matter-of-factly that the Bush Adminstration was attempting to fix the available intelligence to their policy rationale for invading Iraq.

Rosa Parks Passes Away at 92 - Another Signpost of the Zeitgeist

Today, CNN reported the passing of Rosa Parks. 50 years ago, Ms. Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man. To put things in perspective, I was born just seven years later in 1962. My parents owned a three-story brownstone at 7427 Wentworth in Chicago, which they purchased for $27,000. They owned two luxury cars -- and this was all before the passage of the civil rights amendment in 1964, but it certainly led to it. See, they were part of what was an emerging black middle class, and it's important to remember this in the face of too many "poor, black, ghetto" stereotypes presented on TV. I didn't grow up in a ghetto.

Where I'm going with this is that my parents -- Zennie Abraham Sr., and Pat Abraham -- were very much a part of what shaped African American history. They lived the simple American Dream of a car and a house and enough money to have some freedom. They believed in what was possble for them, and so passed that on to me. I sometimes -- well, all of the time -- wished they had not divorced when I was seven, because they were doing so well. But it kept me alive, as I could not stand the emotional strain.

This year, on the Friday after we went to Mike Ditka's, Amanda and I went over to 7427 Wentworth -- I forgot just how big that place was. It was a majestic building -- still is.

My Letter To Mike Ditka

I wrote this letter to Mike Ditka. If you're ever in Chicago, stop by his restaurant! - Zennie

Here's the letter:

Mike Ditka
Owner
Mike Ditka’s Restaurant
100 Chestnut Street
Chicago, Ill


October 21, 2005


Dear Coach Ditka:


Last week on the evening of this Friday, I took my half-sister to your Restaurant as a way of really honoring our father, who’s funeral was that Thursday. I’m writing to thank you for having such a great place to be around great people. Amanda, my sister, said that the Salmon was the best she’s ever had. I really enjoyed the pot roast, and will have it again when I return.

On top of the food, what really makes the place is the people. I grew up in Chicago. Your restaurant, as one of the regulars Nadine (I think that’s the right name –long blond hair, glasses, you know her) said that “Mike Ditka’s is Chicago.”

I came in the night of my Dad’s funeral to have a Romeo and Juliet cigar in his honor. Michelle, who was the downstairs bartender and works upstairs on Fridays, was just wonderful and even remembered me when I returned the next evening. The bartender that Thursday night – I think his name was Tre – bought me a shot and we drank in honor of my father and his grandfather.

What’s so funny about my experience was that when I first walked in, I was worried about not knowing anyone and being in mourning. But then all of these USC fans walked in, and since I went to UC Berkeley (even sat on the Cal Alumni Board), I was right at home. Then, on Friday night, I was upstairs and as Nadine shared the story of the passing of her Mom with Amanda and I, you were kind enough to come over and chat after visitng with Paul Hornung and the Notre Dame alumns – Amanda never got over that. You made us both feel very welcome.

In closing, thanks again, and God bless you. I’ll be back!


Sincerely,



Zenophon “Zennie” Abraham, Jr.
Chairman and CEO Sports Business Simulations, Inc.

Zenophon A. Abraham Sr. - My Dad's Passing On Today

I never thought this day would come. The day when my father passed on. Today's that day, and he's in a hospital in Arlington Heights, Ill, and I'm here in Oakland. He's been sick for a while and with the same cancer that took my stepdad -- Chester Yerger, Jr's - life: advanced prostate cancer.

I really believed I would have more time with him. I didn't think I would have to cope with death twice in one year: Chester in March and now my Dad. I keep wondering what the reason is, but that's also rather selfish I suppose. But one does have to ask "why" when it happens this way.

I already miss my Dad. In my eyes he will always be a great man because he never had less than the right words for the right situation. He was the person who could snap me back to reality with one sentence, as he did when he reminded me that I was at Cal to "get a master's degree" and not worry about why a woman I was dating -- Lauren -- wasn't treating me correctly. After he said that, I refocused and got my work done....and got my degree.

He even did that this year, and supposedly with dimensia. He didn't seem like he had it when he talked with me. He told me so much I will never forget: "Don't go to a board meeting "poping off" -- just listen" was one of them. Of course, when I didn't exactly take his advice he'd ask me "Did you feel you did what you had to do?" And when the answer was yes, he'd say "Well, there you go."

My father is blessed to have some wondeful people in his life: my half sisters Amanda, Jackie, and Vaneessa, and two women he married at different times, one of them my Mom.

I've got so much to do before I go to Chicago. But right now, I'm just gonna sit here.

Bush's Pick Harriet Miers is no God

I grew up believing that Supreme Court nominees were supposed to be the gods and godesses of their profession. But with John Roberts and to a far greater extent Harriet Miers, President Bush is selecting people who not only others have not looked up to, but in the case of Ms. Miers isn't even a judge. I love that she was the first woman to do a number of things, but look: she's no Thurgood Marshall.

This is his biography:

"...Born in Baltimore, Maryland on July 2, 1908, Thurgood Marshall was the grandson of a slave. His father, William Marshall, instilled in him from youth an appreciation for the United States Constitution and the rule of law. After completing high school in 1925, Thurgood followed his brother, William Aubrey Marshall, at the historically black Lincoln University in Chester, Pennsylvania. His classmates at Lincoln included a distinguished group of future Black leaders such as the poet and author Langston Hughes, the future President of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah, and musician Cab Calloway. Just before graduation, he married his first wife, Vivian "Buster" Burey. Their twenty-five year marriage ended with her death from cancer in 1955.



In 1930, he applied to the University of Maryland Law School, but was denied admission because he was Black. This was an event that was to haunt him and direct his future professional life. Thurgood sought admission and was accepted at the Howard University Law School that same year and came under the immediate influence of the dynamic new dean, Charles Hamilton Houston, who instilled in all of his students the desire to apply the tenets of the Constitution to all Americans. Paramount in Houston's outlook was the need to overturn the 1898 Supreme Court ruling, Plessy v. Ferguson which established the legal doctrine called, "separate but equal." Marshall's first major court case came in 1933 when he successfully sued the University of Maryland to admit a young African American Amherst University graduate named Donald Gaines Murray. Applauding Marshall's victory, author H.L. Mencken wrote that the decision of denial by the University of Maryland Law School was "brutal and absurd," and they should not object to the "presence among them of a self-respecting and ambitious young Afro-American well prepared for his studies by four years of hard work in a class A college."

Thurgood Marshall followed his Howard University mentor, Charles Hamilton Houston to New York and later became Chief Counsel for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). During this period, Mr. Marshall was asked by the United Nations and the United Kingdom to help draft the constitutions of the emerging African nations of Ghana and what is now Tanzania. It was felt that the person who so successfully fought for the rights of America's oppressed minority would be the perfect person to ensure the rights of the White citizens in these two former European colonies. After amassing an impressive record of Supreme Court challenges to state-sponsored discrimination, including the landmark Brown v. Board decision in 1954, President John F. Kennedy appointed Thurgood Marshall to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. In this capacity, he wrote over 150 decisions including support for the rights of immigrants, limiting government intrusion in cases involving illegal search and seizure, double jeopardy, and right to privacy issues. Biographers Michael Davis and Hunter Clark note that, "none of his (Marshall's) 98 majority decisions was ever reversed by the Supreme Court." In 1965 President Lyndon Johnson appointed Judge Marshall to the office of U.S. Solicitor General. Before his subsequent nomination to the United States Supreme Court in 1967, Thurgood Marshall won 14 of the 19 cases he argued before the Supreme Court on behalf of the government. Indeed, Thurgood Marshall represented and won more cases before the United States Supreme Court than any other American.

Until his retirement from the highest court in the land, Justice Marshall established a record for supporting the voiceless American. Having honed his skills since the case against the University of Maryland, he developed a profound sensitivity to injustice by way of the crucible of racial discrimination in this country. As an Associate Supreme Court Justice, Thurgood Marshall leaves a legacy that expands that early sensitivity to include all of America's voiceless. Justice Marshall died on January 24, 1993."

She's also no Stephen Breyer, the top legal mind on regulation in America. I knew him for his great book called "Regulation and It's Reform" which I read cover to cover twice, because I was interested in the matter of arguements for airline deregulation. (Which I now think should be reconsidered.)

What has she done? Is she a teacher like Ginsburg? No. She's White House Counsel. I understand she's against choice as well.

I wonder if Bush floated her, knowing she would not pass the muster, and has a plan to pick another male. A white male. For some reason, that's my suspicion. Then he can say "I picked a woman, and it didn't work out." Not good.

Howard Dean on John Roberts

This came to me in an email from the Democratic Party - Zennie:

Governor Dean wrote the following op-ed for national distribution:

John Roberts is a decent family man and a bright, articulate, thoughtful judge. He has a quality absent in previous right wing candidates like Antonin Scalia and Robert Bork, namely a judicial temperament that makes litigants feel that they have been respectfully heard whether they are on the winning or losing side of a verdict.

But John Roberts is the wrong man for the job. Despite the fact that the White House has withheld key documents either out of incompetence or a fear that those documents might prove embarrassing, we have learned enough from the files on Roberts at the Reagan Library to make it clear that he should be rejected.

This conclusion has only been solidified by Roberts' testimony during this week's hearings. He has been a polished performer, but in failing to present clear answers to straightforward questions, Roberts missed a crucial opportunity to answer legitimate concerns about his record and show compassion for those who have been excluded from the American Dream. The consistent mark of Roberts' career is a lack of commitment to making the Constitution's promise of equal protection a reality for all Americans, particularly the most vulnerable in our society.

He has opposed laws protecting the rights of girls and young women to have the same opportunities in sports as boys and young men. He has argued that politicians, not individual women themselves, ought to control women's reproductive health care. He has opposed various remedies for the racial injustices which have occurred in America since slavery and which persist today. He has consistently joined the radical right in seeking to weaken voting rights protections, in essence attacking the rights of black and Hispanic voters to cast their ballot without paying poll taxes or being subjected to intimidation or gerrymandering. He fought against protecting all Americans from workplace discrimination. Most worrisome, he refused to answer questions on his limited view of the right to personal privacy that most Americans take for granted.

Over the last half century, we have made great progress in promoting equal opportunity for all Americans, but there is still much work to be done. Hurricane Katrina was more than the most catastrophic natural disaster in American history. Those who have in so many ways been denied the opportunity for full participation in our society once again suffered disproportionately in this tragedy -- seniors, African-Americans and those burdened by poverty.

Now is not the time for a Chief Justice who is bent on turning back the progress we have made in moving America forward.

Judge Roberts is said to love the law, but loving the law without loving the American people enough to protect their individual rights and freedoms will make our American community weaker. And the exercise of the law without compassion -- something that Judge Roberts and so many on the far right have consistently been guilty of -- undermines the grace and wisdom of the founders whose sense of balance and fairness made this country great.

In the past few weeks we have seen what happens when politics and indifference supercede compassion and organization. The enduring lesson of Hurricane Katrina is that there still are too many Americans who are disproportionately vulnerable. Despite the fact that they worked hard and played by the rules, their luck ran out. Americans are a compassionate, fair-minded people. Our nation is great and strong because of that compassion, not just because we have a strong military. We also have strong moral values which include an innate sense of justice often absent in many other parts of the world.

Our Government today shrinks from compassion. In doing so they have first diminished America in the eyes of the rest of the world, and now they have diminished America in the eyes of our own people. This is a time for justice tempered with mercy and understanding. There is no evidence of either in Judge Roberts's career. The President should be denied this confirmation.

FEMA Director Ousted From Post - Recalled To Washington

As CNN reported if you click on the title post, FEMA Director Mike Brown was recalled to Washington because of his lack of experience in handling disater relief scenarios. My question is this: why in the heck would President Bush hire someone who didn't have that kind of experience? What? He lied on his resume?

Well, this is what the Detroit Free Press reported:

RESPONSE TO KATRINA: FEMA chiefs new to disaster relief

Leaders have little experience for jobs

September 9, 2005



BY ANDREW ZAJAC and ANDREW MARTIN
CHICAGO TRIBUNE


Top officials of the Federal Emergency Management Agency have political connections to President George W. Bush, but they also share at least one other trait: They had little or no experience in disaster management before landing in top FEMA posts.


Michael Brown, who heads FEMA, has endured criticism for comments he made last week that seemed to suggest he didn't understand that thousands of hurricane victims had taken refuge at the New Orleans convention center.


Before joining FEMA in 2001, Brown, a protege of longtime Bush aide Joseph Allbaugh, was commissioner of the International Arabian Horse Association and had virtually no experience in disaster management.


An official biography of Brown's top aide, acting Deputy Director Patrick Rhode, doesn't list disaster relief experience.


The department's No. 3 official, acting Deputy Chief of Staff Brooks Altshuler, also doesn't have emergency management experience, according to FEMA spokeswoman Natalie Rule.


Rule said the lack of experience managing emergencies is irrelevant because top managers need "the ability to keep the organization running."


But Eric Holdeman, director of the King County Office of Emergency Management in Seattle, said that familiarity with the specifics of disaster management is essential. "Experience is not just general managerial experience, it's experience in the field," he said.

_________________________________

FEMA Officials should have disaster experience. That should be a given. This realization is a disaster in itself.

Red Cross warns against fake Katrina websites

The New Zealand Red Cross (NZRC) is alerting the public to the presence of fake websites which siphon off donations to victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Acting director general Graham Wrigley said fraudsters were sending emails that linked to bogus American Red Cross websites.

The emails strongly resemble the American Red Cross website donation page, but donation information is sent to a completely unrelated third party.

-----------------------

This is a terrible development. It's one reason why I thought of, then rejected, the idea of an online auction. There's too many online criminals out there that would destroy the credibility of any really true and good effort. Be careful.

New Orleans Water Problem - Word of Warning to Others in The South and Southwest

If you live in Central or East Texas, Mississippi, or Georgia you should be concerned that the dangerous water problem that exists in New Orleans not impact the quality of your water supply.

In my training as an urban planner, we were instructed how to be concerned with and measure environmental impacts of development projects.

What's not discussed at all -- by FEMA or the media -- is the spread of the "bad" water and which states will be effected. Given the run of the water system, it's a safe bet to assume that Texas (which is next to Louisiana), Missippi, and Georgia will be impacted more than other states.

Pass this on to your friends and any local politicians -- before another environmental disaster unfolds. Ask for answers to this question: What is being done about this?

House begins look at eminent domain legislation - Impact on New Orleans?

This is From Lexis Nexis:
"Copyright 2005 Environment and Energy Publishing, LLC

Environment and Energy Daily
September 6, 2005 Tuesday
SPOTLIGHT Vol. 10 No. 9
693 words
DEVELOPMENT: House begins look at eminent domain legislation
Dan Berman, E&E Daily reporter The House Agriculture Committee tomorrow will hold the first congressional hearing into the controversial Supreme Court decision on eminent domain and examine legislation designed to address the ruling. The June Kelo v. City of New London decision has galvanized private property advocates opposed to the ruling. In response, Congress and various state legislatures may move to curb the use of eminent domain. "I don't see this issue going away," said Cody Stewart, executive director of the House Western Caucus. "It definitely struck a nerve." The ruling reaffirmed the use of eminent domain by cities and the taking of private property for just compensation as long as the land in question is for public use, including private development. The ruling may expand the use of eminent domain for private development projects such as building a shopping center or a stadium, critics say. The Supreme Court last month declined a request to revisit the ruling. Several bills on the use of eminent domain were introduced in Congress over the summer, including H.R. 3405, which would cut off federal funds for city and state economic development projects that take private property for the benefit of private developers. Tomorrow's hearing will focus on that bill, sponsored by Rep. Henry Bonilla (R-Texas), Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo (R-Calif.), Agriculture Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), among others. The hearing will focus on H.R. 3405 because it was referred to the Agriculture Committee, a committee spokeswoman said, but private property advocates have not said if they have a favorite among the competing eminent domain bills."

--------------

My question is this: will this legislation impact the redevelopment of New Orleans? Can homeowners who suffered damage and loss expect to have their physical recovery efforts curtailed by a "pro-private" development plan?

Are there safeguards to prevent this occurence?

NBC Edit's Kanye West's Anti-Bush Comments - That's Not Right

Call me late to the party, but I just learned of Kanye West's "George Bush hates black people" comment while watching "The Big Idea with Donny Deutch." It was Deutch, who's a good friend of Russell Simmons, who revealed that NBC actually cut the West Coast feed from the show where West -- standing with Mike Myers of "Austin Powers" fame -- launched his tirade.

I wondered just what he said, so I cyberscrounged for some text. I found it in this account by Yahoo! News:

NEW YORK - A celebrity telethon for Hurricane Katrina survivors took an unexpected turn when outspoken rapper Kanye West went off script during the live broadcast, declaring America is set up "to help the poor, the black people, the less well-off as slow as possible."

ADVERTISEMENT

"A Concert for Hurricane Relief," which aired on NBC and other networks Friday night, began, fittingly enough, with jazz from New Orleans natives Harry Connick Jr. and Wynton Marsalis.

The host was NBC News' Matt Lauer, who invited viewers to contribute to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund by phone or on the Web. Some 18 presenters performed musical numbers or gave information on the tragedy's huge scope.

Since the hurricane, people have displayed a massive outpouring of charity. Total donations passed the $200 million mark by Friday, four days after the storm slammed into the Gulf Coast. The bulk of those funds were collected by the Red Cross, which said it has raised $196.9 million from individuals and corporations.

Appearing two-thirds through the program, West took the government to task, claiming " George Bush doesn't care about black people."

Comedian Mike Myers was paired with West for a 90-second segment that began with Myers speaking of Katrina's devastation. Then, to Myers' evident surprise, West began a rant by saying, "I hate the way they portray us in the media. If you see a black family, it says they're looting. See a white family, it says they're looking for food."

While allowing that "the Red Cross is doing everything they can," West — who delivered an emotional outburst at the American Music Awards after he was snubbed for an award — declared that government authorities are intentionally dragging their feet on aid to the Gulf Coast. Without getting specific, he added, "They've given them permission to go down and shoot us."

After he stated, "George Bush doesn't care about black people," the camera cut away to comedian Chris Tucker.

Concluding the hour a few minutes later, Lauer noted that "emotions in this country right now are running very high. Sometimes that emotion is translated into inspiration, sometimes into criticism. We've heard some of that tonight. But it's still part of the American way of life."

In a statement, NBC said, "Kanye West departed from the scripted comments that were prepared for him, and his opinions in no way represent the views of the networks.

"It would be most unfortunate," the statement continued, "if the efforts of the artists who participated tonight and the generosity of millions of Americans who are helping those in need are overshadowed by one person's opinion."

The show, simulcast from New York on NBC, MSNBC, CNBC and Pax, was aired live to the East Coast, enabling the Grammy-winning rapper's outburst to go out uncensored. West's comment about the president was cut from NBC's West Coast airing, which showed three hours later on tape.

There was a several-second tape delay, but the person in charge "was instructed to listen for a curse word, and didn't realize (West) had gone off-script," NBC spokeswoman Rebecca Marks added.

---

Is West correct? Well, it's certainly true that Bush has thumbed his nose at the NAACP -- the recognized civil rights organization for African Americans -- more than once by not attending their convention. I could go on and add that Bush essentially tried to set up Secretary of State Colin Powell to fail, thereby taking down the most powerful African American in the Republican Party (or trying to). But instead, I'm going to simply observe that West's ability to be a position to make such a statement is in itself light-years beyond where African Americans were when I was a little boy in the 60s.

Thus, we're moving into a fascinating and confusing time in American Culture. Now, there are several center of power and divided by age, race, and sex. Moreover, the group that West addresses -- young blacks like me -- are increasingly part of an interracial power structure that's growing. It's enemy is the older intra-racial power structure that's almost enterely white.

George Bush is widely viewed as part of the "old guard" structure, so from that narrow point of view, West may have a very good point.

But I'd like to know that NBC's not going to do that again. That was -- or should be -- illegal to do.