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host · 06-11-2007, 07:57 AM

isn't it past fucking time to stop dancing around what this is....what has happened to the DOJ under Gonzales, and the US during Bush? How he got selected in 2000 and in 2004....it's about vote suppression. Do "they' have to make their agenda clearer? it seems to be wrapped up and handed to us, already, doesn't it?

Quote:

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/014554.php

(June 10, 2007 -- 11:12 AM EDT)

The Senate is scheduled to consider a no-confidence resolution condemning Alberto Gonzales tomorrow, but even if it passes, don't expect too much of a reaction from the White House. Whether the Senate trusts the Attorney General or not is <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070610/ap_on_go_pr_wh/gonzales_prosecutors;_ylt=AqJgC_Dk80CUDl6t5FCBIZnMWM0F">of no interest</a> to the president.

The White House on Sunday dismissed Senate plans to hold a no-confidence vote on the attorney general and said the outcome will not undermine President Bush's resolve to keep Alberto Gonzales at the Justice Department.

"Not a bit. Purely symbolic vote," presidential spokesman Tony Snow said. He was asked in a broadcast interview whether Bush might reconsider his decision to support Gonzales should a sizable number of Republican senators vote for the no-confidence resolution.

"It is perfectly obvious that the president has the right to hire and fire people who serve at his pleasure," Snow said.

The point, of course, isn't whether Bush has employment power over those who serve at his pleasure, but rather whether Gonzales' conduct has been tragic enough to force his ouster.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) recently said, "The president should understand that while he has confidence in Attorney General Gonzales, very few others do. Congress has a right -- and even an obligation -- to express its views when things are this serious."

I don't disagree in the slightest. I just don't think anyone should be surprised when Bush and Gonzales treat the no-confidence vote the way they treat habeas.

The AP added that tomorrow's resolution "could be Congress' last effort to force Gonzales ouster." That's not quite right -- the Senate could consider <a href="http://impeachgonzales.org/">impeachment</a>.

Quote:

http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showthr...ch#post2202995
....Five years ago, as Bush was gearing up his presidential campaign, he made a little-noticed pilgrimage to a gathering of right-wing Christian activists, under the auspices of a group called the Committee to Restore American Values. The committee, which assembled about two dozen of the nation's leading fundamentalist firebrands, was chaired by LaHaye. At the time, many evangelicals viewed Bush skeptically: Despite his born-again views, when he was governor of Texas, Bush had alienated many of the state's Christian-right activists for failing to pursue a sufficiently evangelical agenda. On the national level, he was an unknown quantity.

That day, behind closed doors, LaHaye grilled the candidate. He presented Bush with a lengthy questionnaire on issues such as abortion, judicial appointments, education, religious freedom, gun control and the Middle East. What the preacher thought of Bush's answers would largely determine whether the Christian right would throw its muscle behind the Texas governor.....

...........In 1979, at a time when ministers confined themselves to their churches, he prodded the Rev. Jerry Falwell to found the Moral Majority, a group that launched today's cultural wars against feminism, homosexuality, abortion, drugs and pornography. In 1981, he helped found the little-known but vastly powerful Council for National Policy, a secretive group of wealthy donors that has funneled billions of dollars to right-wing Christian activists. "No one individual has played a more central organizing role in the religious right than Tim LaHaye," says Larry Eskridge of the Institute for the Study of American Evangelicals, calling him "the most influential American evangelical of the last twenty-five years."

When the meeting with Bush ended, LaHaye gave the candidate his seal of approval. For Bush, it was a major breakthrough, clearing the decks for hundreds of leaders of the Christian right, from TV preachers and talk-show hosts to Bible Belt pulpit pounders, to support the Bush-Cheney ticket in 2000. "Bush went into the meeting not totally acceptable," recalls Paul Weyrich, the grandfather of the religious right, who has known LaHaye for thirty years. "He went out not only acceptable but enthusiastically supported."....

Quote:

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/0...-goo-syndrome/

By: John Amato on Thursday, June 7th, 2007 at 4:30 PM - PDT

Paul Weyrich, father of the right-wing movement and co-founder of the Heritage Foundation,

Moral Majority and various other groups <h3>tells his flock that he doesn’t want people to vote. </h3>

That’s why the GOP is obsessed with voter fraud—only they want to disenfranchise voters

because as Weyrich said back in the ’80’s…the more voters there are—the less of a chance the

wingers have in any election.

video_wmv Download (2486) | Play (1860) video_mov Download (1495) | Play (1270)

Weyrich: “Now many of our Christians have what I call the goo-goo syndrome — good

government. They want everybody to vote. I don’t want everybody to vote. Elections are not

won by a majority of people, they never have been from the beginning of our country and they

are not now. As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as

the voting populace goes down.

Need I say more?

Quote:

http://gadflyer.com/articles/?ArticleID=260
Secret Society
Just who is the Council for National Policy, and why aren't they paying taxes?

by Sarah Posner, Contributor
2.21.05

.....Who Is Behind CNP?
....Today, CNP's Board and roster of known members is a who's who of the radical right, and a sampling includes former Reagan cabinet member Donald Hodel, also President of James Dobson's Focus on the Family; Heritage Foundation President Edwin Feulner, who has served on CNP's board, as have Grover Norquist, President of the anti-tax group Americans for Tax Reform and Paul Weyrich, President of the Free Congress Foundation; Holly Coors; T. Kenneth Cribb, President of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute; and Brent Bozell, President of the Media Research Council, which provides a media network through which it disseminates radical conservative ideology and propaganda.

CNP's tentacles also reach into a community of well-connected activists who advocate for the imposition of fundamentalist Christian ideology in public life and have succeeded in forcing their agenda in the Bush Administration. Besides the well-known affiliation of Dobson and Hodel, just one example is the Home School Legal Defense Association, which has paid CNP dues so that Michael Farris, its executive director, could attend the meetings. Farris has since also become President of Patrick Henry College (PHC), founded in 2000 for home-schooled students. PHC aims to "prepare Christian men and women who will lead our nation and shape our culture with timeless biblical values and fidelity to the spirit of the American founding" and "to aid in the transformation of American society by training Christian students to serve God and mankind with a passion for righteousness, justice and mercy, through careers of public service and cultural influence." Janet Ashcroft, the former Attorney General's wife, and Barbara Hodel, Hodel's wife, also serve on PHC's Board of Trustees.....

Quote:

http://web.archive.org/web/200602211...004/agenda.asp

This morning, in a nondescript room in the Russell Building, some of Capitol Hill’s top

conservative staffers and lobbyists will meet to plot Senate strategy, as they do most

Tuesdays.

Coffee cups in hand, the staffers will assemble around a square boardroom table to exchange

ideas and share intelligence, bounce thoughts off leadership staffers and, ultimately, shape

the Senate’s conservative agenda.

The Conservative Working Group (CWG), as the group calls itself, is one of several

invitation-only conservative gatherings making its influence felt in the Senate, a body

known more for compromise and moderation than for advancing conservative ideals.

As the conservative movement has gained strength in recent years, its champions in the

Senate have sought to organize and hold regular strategy meetings, taking cues from more

established gatherings on the House side and on K Street. Older groups such as the CWG,

which was set up in 1974, have been rejuvenated, while a bevy of new groups has sprung up.

These include the Values Action Team (VAT), which emphasizes social issues; the Fiscal

Action Team (FAT), which focuses on economic and tax issues; and a gun-rights group.

Attendees claim that the behind-the-scenes strategy sessions have already swayed the Senate

agenda, even though few people realize it, because, as one Senate aide put it, “We derive

our power from being underground.”

The CWG was instrumental in defeating the Law of the Sea Treaty, according to a lobbyist who

regularly attends the meetings. If the Senate had ratified the treaty, the United States

would have become subject to an international body overseeing the planet’s oceans. To

conservatives, the plan sounded like another United Nations, which they vehemently oppose.

“The treaty was never brought up. They’ve had an effect in that they were able to rally

opposition to that treaty,” the lobbyist said.

The meetings have also been a driving force behind the failure of the Senate to renew the

assault-weapons ban and the effort, though unsuccessful, to pass a marriage amendment to the

Constitution. They have pushed for higher tax cuts and have tried to thwart filibusters of

judicial nominees.

The CWG is led by Ed Corrigan, executive director of the conservative Senate Republican

Steering Committee. It serves as a staff-led counterpart to the weekly meeting held by

senators on the Steering Committee. Corrigan also runs the Fiscal Action Team.

Sen. Sam Brownback (Kan.) and his chief of staff, Rob Wasinger, lead the VAT meetings, which

like the other groups, attracts staff, lobbyists and activists.

For lobbyists, the sessions are a chance to bring their message to dozens of staffers at

once, while collecting valuable information to bring back to their clients.

“People make sure they get there because [the CWG] is an important group,” said Chris Myers,

a lobbyist at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a regular attendee.
“It’s active. They get things done. Folks want to get there and get some face time.”

He added, “We can learn about issues that are out there that Senate staff are working on. …

They can find out what the business community is thinking on some of these issues.”

A lobbyist who attends the meetings agreed. “It a good place to organize conservatives. It’s

an opportunity for a staffer to bend other senators’ ears,” the lobbyist said. “For

lobbyists, we get an update on what’s going on. That’s good for clients.”

Tripp Baird, director of Senate relations for the Heritage Foundation, often gives

presentations to the assembled staffers.

“Every group would love to sit down with these staff — outside groups, K Street, trade

associations. It is definitely staff willing to listen and understand, but it also has a

conservative viewpoint already,” he said. When not speaking to the group, he added, “I get

to be a fly on the wall. … People come and vent about things that are going on.
If a member [of the Senate] were there, people would not be as open as they are.”

Baird credits the CWG with helping force the resignation two weeks ago of a spokeswoman for

the commission conducting an inquiry into the United Nations’ oil-for-food program. The

Heritage Foundation had complained that she wrote an op-ed two years ago that was critical

of President Bush.

For leadership aides, the meetings can be an early-warning system, indicating what the

conservative base is thinking and planning. Bill Wichterman, policy adviser to Majority

Leader Bill Frist (Tenn.), regularly attends.

Yet, in many cases, Senate leaders and conservatives find themselves on the same page. Frist

is one of the most conservative members of the Senate, as are Majority Whip Mitch McConnell

(Ky.) and GOP Conference Chairman Rick Santorum (Pa.).

Some observers argue that as the Senate leadership moves farther to the right, organized

meetings such as the CWG have had more say in leadership decisions.

“When we first started [in 1974], we didn’t really have anyone in leadership favorable to

our point of view,” said Paul Weyrich, who led the CWG in its early years and now heads

the Free Congress Foundation. “We had to figure out ways to get around them. … Today,

it’s entirely different. Today, we have the most conservative leadership group in the modern

history of Senate. … The Steering Committee under these circumstances is taken very

seriously.”

Myers agreed. “They aren’t outsiders anymore. It used to be that to get attention, they had

to throw bombs. Now they are in the room. They are leadership,” he said.

The CWG often coordinates with House-side groups and gatherings off the Hill. The House

Republican Steering Committee organizes a large group of staffers who meet on Mondays.

Weyrich runs a weekly conservative meeting, the Coalitions Lunch, at the Free Congress

Foundation. It routinely attracts House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (Mo.), Sen. James Inhofe

(Okla.) and Rep. Mike Pence (Ind.).

Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform also hosts a well-known conservative strategy

session. Corrigan and Weyrich run the Stanton Group, which focuses on foreign policy, while

Brian Darling, a lobbyist at the Alexander Strategy Group, organizes a meeting on gun

rights.

Aside from the Heritage Foundation and the Chamber, the “off-campus” contingent at CWG

meetings includes White House staffers Matthew Kirk and Virginia Loper, Bob Thompson from

the Free Congress Foundation, Ben Dupuy from the National Rifle Association and Stacie

Rumenap from the American Conservative Union.

Various contract lobbyists also attend.

Quote:

http://www.watch.pair.com/heritage.html
THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION

Power Elites: The Merger of Right and Left

.........Paul Weyrich

Paul Weyrich is considered by conservative Powers That Be as the most powerful man in American politics today. Weyrich allegedly founded the immensely influential conservative think tank, Heritage Foundation, in 1973 with funding from Joseph Coors of the Coors beer empire and Richard Mellon-Scaife, heir of the Carnegie-Mellon fortune. (2)

Over the past 25 years, Heritage has also been funded by private foundations such as Pew Charitable Trust which also funded many GOALS 2000 initiatives. William Greider's bestseller, Who Will Tell the People: The Betrayal of American Democracy reveals other benefactors: "Not withstanding its role as 'populist' spokesman, Weyrich's organization, for instance, has received grants from Amoco, General Motors, Chase Manhattan Bank [David Rockefeller] and right-wing foundations like Olin and Bradley." (3)

Paul Weyrich served as President of Heritage Foundation until 1974 when he founded the Committee for the Survival of a Free Congress (which he heads today as the Free Congress Foundation). Heritage Foundation guided the Reagan administration during its period of transition and Joe Coors served in the President's "Kitchen Cabinet." During its first year, the Reagan administration adopted fully two-thirds of the recommendations of Heritage's Mandate for Leadership: Policy Management in a Conservative Administration.

<h3>John Saloma's Ominous Politics, refers to Heritage as a "shadow government"</h3> noting that "[Heritage President] (Edwin) Feulner also served on the Reagan transition executive committee (fourteen other Heritage staff and board members also had transition appointments), but declined to join the administration." (4)

Quote:

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php...aul_M._Weyrich

Paul M. Weyrich:

"We are different from previous generations of conservatives…We are no longer working to

preserve the status quo. We are radicals, working to overturn the present power structure

of this country." (John Soloma's 1984 book, Ominous Politics: the new conservative

labyrinth, Hill and Wang, New York ISBN: 0809072955 0809001594).

....add this post to your reading:
http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showthr...ch#post2202995

A 1995 Wall Street Journal observed the formidable influence of the Heritage Foundation on government policies since the Reagan era: .......

.....Facist Connections

Paul Weyrich - considered the architect and mainstay of the conservative revolution - calls for "reclaiming the culture" and a "second American Revolution." A look at the inflammatory, extremist rhetoric with racial and Inquisitorial overtones on the Free Congress Foundation web site should alarm Christians as to Weyrich's real intent: ......

The following is an archived page....the current link leads to a .pdf file,
and I was too impatient to wait for it to load: http://www.freecongress.org/aboutfcf.aspx

Quote:

http://web.archive.org/web/200008150...gress.org/fcf/

Paul Weyrich:
PERSONAL

* Age: 57. Born in Racine, Wisconsin, married to Joyce Smigun Weyrich, July 6, 1963. Children:
* Dawn (Mrs. Edward Ceol), 36, Mother of Jillian, granddaughter, and twin grandsons, Alexander and Benjamin.
* Peter, 35, Account Executive, Effinity Services.
* Diana (Mrs. Craig Pascoe), 34, President, The Capital Network and Development Group, Mother of Stephen James.
* Sephen, 29, Senior Producer, Frontiers of Medicine, Father of Matthew, grandson, Sarah, granddaughter, and Michael, grandson.
* Andrew, 24, CEO, ImLikeU.com, candidate for Masters degree, George Mason University.

BACKGROUND AND POSITIONS

Public Policy

* President, Free Congress Research and Education Foundation, 1977 - present.
* President, The Krieble Institute of Free Congress Foundation (responsible for training democracy movements in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Empire) 1989 - 1996.
* Member, Board of Directors, The Freedom and Democracy Institute of Russia, 1997 - present.
* Treasurer, Council for National Policy, 1981 - 1992. (currently on the Executive Committee of the CNP)
* National Chairman, Coalitions for America, 1978 - present.
* Founder, American Legislative Exchange Council, 1973; Director, 1975 - 1978.
 * Founding President, The Heritage Foundation, 1973 - 1974.