Thinking Blogger Award

We are happy to announce that the Lydia Cornell blog has been tagged with the "Thinking Blogger Award" by our friends Chuck and Karen at their widely popular blog The Divided States Of Bushmerika 2.

Thank you Chuck and Karen for your kind words and your regular comments on this blog. As many of you know we now have to choose 5 blogs that make us think. So many have been chosen in the past that we want to pick some that make us think, and maybe our viewers haven't discovered, or rediscovered yet.

THE RULES ARE AS FOLLOWS:
1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think.

2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme.

3. Optional: Proudly display the ‘Thinking Blogger Award’ with a link to the post that you wrote.

Last Left Turn Before Hooterville is a popular blog by good friend Alicia Morgan. Alicia writes about political matters with wisdom and humor. Alicia is an excellent writer.

Watergate Summer marks the recent return to the blogosphere of Enigma4Ever from her exile of being a whistle blower in the recent Attorneygate scandals that rocked the Bush administration. Check this site out. It is worth the read.

Morning Martini is the popular blog by our new friend Pissed off Patricia. Patricia has become a regular commenter here and her articles on her blog are worth the read.

We welcome the return of famed blogger Neal Shakespeare and his way of wit and humor that has always made us think.

Our last entry is Left of Centrist is a growing blog put out by Robert Rouse and his team of contributors. Is has updated political stories and is worth checking out.

Thank you for viewing and making your comments on the Lydia Cornell blog. Your thoughtful comments are appreciated, and look for many big additions and new features with this blog, as we bring you fresh insight into different areas of politics and life. Please come back.

GOD BLESS AMERICA * SCOOTER SCOOTS

Please listen to the Basham and Cornell Progressive Talk Show Saturday at 9:00 AM PST. Each week we have lively commentary, well known guests and call in segments that enhance the show. Don't forget Saturday at 9:00 AM PST for the Basham and Cornell Progressive Talk Show





The 4th of July 2007 HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA! It can only get better.

Scooter Libby Roundup

FACE THE FACTS: The reason Bush commuted Scooter Libby's sentence was SO LIBBY WOULDN'T TALK. Bush “guaranteed not only that Libby wouldn’t talk, but retaining Libby’s right to invoke the Fifth. This amounts to nothing less than obstruction of justice.” Now, the Bush administration is legally protected from having to answer questions. If Libby had been in prison, anyone could have gotten to him. Now, no one can get Libby to say a word about the real culprits, which are obviously Rove and Cheney/Bush.


photo All Hat No Cattle.com

(check out Basham & Cornell.com for our videos and Keith Olbermann's Worst Person in the World: George W. Bush)

**First of all, it's vitally important to understand what Valerie Plame was actually doing, and how her "blonde good looks" were a perfect cover for the dangerous work she was doing in finding nuclear weapons in enemy territory. Along with Plame, what we never hear about is that this entire CIA covert program is now gone and several other CIA agents lost their jobs and their cover.

The reason this whole thing is different than any Clinton pardon is because this is a White House-related crime. You can't pardon or commute the sentence of someone who is directly related to your office!!

** Bush gleefully sent people to their deaths without commuting a single death sentence as governor of Texas. He sent mentally retarded children to their deaths. He probably sent innocent people to their deaths.

Doug Basham says: "Bush freed Libby... this is your “law and order” “strong on national security” republicans in action again. They have no problem outing someone who was working on nuclear proliferation issues, and then they have even less problem pardoning the person who leaked it. Well, at least Bush (Cheney) made sure Libby wouldn’t flip on them, and start talking."

According to Marcy Wheeler, Bush “guaranteed not only that Libby wouldn’t talk, but retaining Libby’s right to invoke the Fifth. This amounts to nothing less than obstruction of justice.”

And the worst part of this is… we’re now going to have to listen to all the right wing media hosts and their fellow propagandists tell us once again, that no crime was committed, even tho’ republican prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald said there was.

They will tell us it’s Patrick Fitzgerald who should’ve gone to prison, and that it was Richard Armitage who told Robert Novak, even tho’ Libby told at least 2 other reporters. So what if it was Novak who reported it? Libby leaked the name of a covert CIA operative to at least 2 other reporters, whether they reported it or not! So yes, a crime was committed. He just wasn’t charged with the crime of leaking.

Bush did not consult with the Justice Department or special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald before commuting the sentence of former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, according to Tuesday’s Washington Post. Bush commuted Libby’s sentence for perjuring and other crimes related to his role in the outing of CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson.

This is the first time in Bush's presidency that Bush commuted a sentence without going through his lawyers at the Justice Dept. Bush didn't even ask the Prosecutor in the case Patrick Fitzgerald, for his opinion as has normally been done in the Justice Department.

"First, President Bush said any person who leaked would no longer work in his administration. Nonetheless, Scooter Libby didn’t leave office until he was indicted and Karl Rove works in the White House even today."

President Bush on Tuesday left open the possibility of an eventual pardon for former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby.

"As to the future, I rule nothing in and nothing out," the president said a day after commuting Libby's 2 1/2-year prison term in the CIA leak case.

Bush openly proclaimed on national television that "any person who leaked would no longer work in his administration." Libby now is free, awaiting a full pardon and Karl Rove is still directing the steps of the Bush administration.

Survey USA conducted a quick, automated survey to gauge response to President Bush's decision to commute former White House aide Scooter Libby's prison sentence.

According to the poll:

17% say Bush should have pardoned Libby completely.
60% say Bush should have left the judge's prison sentence in place.
32% of Republicans agree with the President's decision, compared to 14% of Democrats and 20% of Independents.
26% of Republicans say Libby should have been pardoned completely, compared to 21% of Independents and 8% of Democrats..

A wide majority of Americans are against letting Libby go free. The Bush decision regarding Scooter Libby portrays the conclusion that he will do anything to protect those within his inner circle.

Equal Justice Under Law is a phrase engraved on the front of the United States Supreme Court building in Washington D.C. This phrase was apparently first written in 1932 by the architectural firm that designed the building. Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes subsequently approved this inscription, as did the United States Supreme Court Building Commission which Hughes chaired.

It has become increasingly clear that in Bush's America, there is no "Equal Justice For All.

LOOK AT THIS

CLICK on the photo for a closeup of the GIZA PYRAMIDS which were constructed around 2500 BC as monumental tombs. The largest and oldest pyramid was originally over 480 feet high and is made of 5.7 million tons of limestone.

This is from the Smithsonian Institute's "Earth from Space" collection of satellite photos. EARTH FROM SPACE

QuickBird satellite, February 2002
DigitalGlobe

The world is so incredibly beautiful. We should all travel the globe and visit other cultures. I just read a terrific description of Bali by Elizabeth Gilbert in her mulit-milliion bestselling book "Eat, Pray, Love" which is her memoir of divorcing her husband, and traveling the world to find God, great sex, food and love -- not necesarily in that order.

Bali is not at all relaxed; they have so many religious ceremonies and rituals, they spend every waking hour busily trying to stay in balance by appeasing the Great Spirits. If you are wandering aimlessly in Bali, it makes people horribly uncomfortable. When you pass someone on the road, they will ask, "Where are you going?" and you better have a definitive answer. It freaks them out if you have no concrete purpose. Also, if you're not married, you are looked upon with pity and suspicion, as marriage is considered the most important rite of passage. The ancient priests handed down all these elaborate rituals to give the people structure and order. To me, this kind of hypervigilance is micro-managing and overcontrolling one's life leaves no room for creativity. But you have to respect their culture because they do not want to change. They are very happy staying in "balance" this way. I find it adorable to observe the customs of other cultures. It's not my business to change anyone. And I find it ridiculous that we are arrogant enough to think we can force Democracy down Iraq's throat at the point of a gun...

Or in the words of Stuart Smalley, "It's easier to wear slippers than to carpet the whole world."

Of course you know who Stuart Smalley is, right?

IMPEACH CHENEY * HOW TO TALK TO ANN COULTER IF YOU MUST

SATURDAY MORNING TUNE IN LIVE FROM LAS VEGAS and LOS ANGELES to our show LYDIA CORNELL  RADIO TALK
from 9 - 10 a.m. We broadcast live and we're taking calls today, so don't be afraid to call in! Check out our website for the phone numbers. Thanks! If you miss the show, go to our website and click on the link to hear the entire show in the archives.



(Political Animal) FEIN: IMPEACH CHENEY....As part of the Washington Post's multi-part profile on Dick Cheney, Bruce Fein, an associate deputy attorney general under President Ronald Reagan, accused the Vice President of having made "monarchical claims" on power.

In an interesting Slate piece, Fein, a self-identified conservative, follows up on these concerns and explicitly calls for Cheney's impeachment.

In grasping and exercising presidential powers, Cheney has dulled political accountability and concocted theories for evading the law and Constitution that would have embarrassed King George III. The most recent invention we know of is the vice president's insistence that an executive order governing the handling of classified information in the executive branch does not reach his office because he also serves as president of the Senate. In other words, the vice president is a unique legislative-executive creature standing above and beyond the Constitution. The House judiciary committee should commence an impeachment inquiry. As Alexander Hamilton advised in the Federalist Papers, an impeachable offense is a political crime against the nation. Cheney's multiple crimes against the Constitution clearly qualify. (CBS News)

cartoon by Stephen Pitt

cartoon by Sack

I do not believe in an anthropomorphic God nor do I believe in a physical anti-Christ — but I believe that fundamentalism itself, the kind Ann Coulter practices, is un-Christian. This is anti-Christ thought.

And Elizabeth Ewards is my hero.

Ann Coulter was on Chris Matthews today, and Elizabeth Edwards called in to ask her to stop making personal, hateful attacks against her husband, John Edwards (yesterday on GMA, Coulter said she will not call Edwards the "f" word anymore, but she will say she wishes he was killed in a terrorist attack... and it doesn't matter that she was trying to make fun of Bill Maher in this, her words are those of a corrupt, evil, low life who cannot use her brain for anything productive.

I am so sick of this monster getting attention for her extermination speak.

Ann Coulter is the exact opposite of a true Christian, and is actually one of the reasons our society is falling apart. She supports the war in Iraq and couldn't care less about civilian casualties, but loathes Bush now because of his "amnesty" bill. Christ, if he were alive today, would have supported the exact reverse of Coulter's position.

"I had a very happy childhood – nothing conflicted, lots of friends, lots of boyfriends, athletic," she said. In the seventh grade her beagle, Tiger, died. "That was the only bad thing that ever happened to me."

Wow! This explains it all. This makes the case for Democrats. If not having suffered in life makes one as brittle and spiteful as Ann Coulter, a “Republican,” then it stands to reason that suffering in life makes one more compassionate, more empathetic and hence more connected to the human race! Hence, a Democrat.

I think I detect “suffering envy” in Coulter. She is actually jealous of those who have loved and lost.

I have a solution: get married, have kids and get a family life. Care about someone other than yourself. Then you can join the human race and stop inflicting your heinously distorted views on others you have nothing in common with. Life is messy: people cry, make mistakes, act like jerks, care about each other. Not everyone is the enemy. In fact, even the enemy can become a friend. Take my husband for example.

Her premise is that it's wrong to use your suffering. My question to Coulter is, why are you so against understanding “the other” and personal history? Our suffering often deepens us, defines us, and helps us grow into truly empathetic souls. As a wise man once said, “pain is the touchstone of all spiritual progress.” Wouldn't it have been better for George Bush to have actually been through some tragedies in life, so he could relate to fellow human beings, instead of admittedly being so estranged from the tragedy in New Orleans? Bush admitted he has no idea how the poor of New Orleans felt, for he had never had a moment in his life when he was deprived. I would rather have a president who has actually been through personal trials, and was deepened by them.

Losing a child, as John Edwards did, often changes a person; it is the defining moment in a parent's life. Nothing is ever the same after losing a child.

So tell us Ann, what childhood abuse are you hiding? Why have you so little empathy and “compassion” – that corney, hokey quality you revile in Democrats? I’m sorry, but “compassion” is not a dirty word. Caring about your fellow man is not a wimpy quality unveiled just to get votes. I know you and Glen Beck have a special hatred for people who have lost loved ones, especially 911 widows and Katrina victims.

You cringe when Angelina Jolie or Miss Universe sounds sappy, but there is something refreshing about people stating out loud that they want to change the world by helping others. Maybe it doesn't sound “cool” to your brand of SS Storm Trooper, but it is exactly what American kids need to hear: beautiful women pleading for charitable causes, instead of scarecrows chortling about killing 'rag heads!'

On behalf of Democrats, I will say this: we are interested in understanding the enemy in order to solve problems. This does not make us unpatriotic or treasonous! I believe that once you understand people's motivations, you can enter into diplomacy. “Keep your enemies close” is smart behavior, especially in time of war. I keep getting comments on my blog from people who twist my words and call me a traitor simply because I do not love the bomb.

Coulter's pathological hatred qualifies her for a mental institution, not the top of the bestseller list. What I'd like to know is how did America get to the point where a sociopath can become a best-selling author? Calling for the killing of a Supreme Court Justice or former president — isn't this criminal intent, and shouldn't this woman be in jail? Ann Coulter is about to blow, and I hope she doesn't own a gun.

cartoon copyrights:
http://www.light-to-dark.com/Stephen_Pitt_Cartoons.html
cagle.com/news/ AnnCoulter/images/sack.jpg

A Soldiers Point of View

Please read the following letter I received from a soldier who is on his third tour of Iraq. He is scheduled to return back home in August. I'm praying he will make it back safely. This is from a soldier who knows the truth of what is happening in Iraq.I am not including his name for his protection.

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

Lydia,

I read your blog of the ten service members that were killed in country.
The one that stood out was the mention of the one that was on his third
tour. This is my third tour here as well. I came back from a injury that
had me unable to walk for 90 days. I had my tendon repaired and my nerve
dissected and repaired on my left foot. I came back to Iraq after
healing...why?

If I can try to explain why...

1. We don't have to believe our leaders but we have to believe in our
Country. Our love for our Country and our service is something we take
pride in. Whether Foreign Policy is screwed up or not we have to protect
our Country for whatever threat. Now, this comment can raise a few
arguments I know BUT if I believe in my Country then I am willing to
defend my Country. Notice, I believe in my Country even if my leaders
are slightly off center.
Being in the military we are not allowed to discuss our political views
and I will respect that and I don't think it's important on whether I am
a Republican or Democrat (even though I am sure you know which I am). I
am paid to be a medic, to save lives, not to get into a political debate
with my Commander-In-Chief.

2. We continue to come over because we know others wont. This is an
ongoing situation. We have folks that go AWOL and vanish on their units,
we have folks that claim "conscientious objector" status after they
somehow woke up one day and said "hey, I'm not going to war", and then
we have the National Guard men and women who claim the "I only joined
for college". We also have entire Guard units that for some reason are
able to jockey their way out of deployments, but they and their
personnel are able to remain in the Guard.

3. With being here three times you have experience. You want to share
this experience with the younger soldiers or the "virgins to war". At 35
years of age I see it as my part to help those here and to ease their
worries and to help them relax know that at any moment thing can and
will go down hill fast. If you can learn from those who have been here
before and if it helps you to stay alive and to do you mission then that
is a success.

4. For some of us, like myself, being here is being able to support our
families. Thanks to a poor job market or a job that only pays the status
quo, by coming over here with the extra pay and the like we can keep our
heads above water and make sure our families can survive. I am married
with 3 beautiful children and I know that if anything does happen to me
then they will be taken care of. I hate to think of anything happening
but I am not the dictator of my time on earth. In the civilian side I
would not be able to give my wife of 13 years and my children as good a
life as they have now. Once I get back to Alabama after this tour, I
return to the job I have and take a huge cut in salary. And once again I
look forward to the prospect of having to work two or possibly three
jobs just to stay afloat and to continue to provide for my family.

5. Family history. I come from a long line of military blood. I have had
family in every major conflict since the Civil War. And due to my German
heritage, I have had family on two fronts in two World Wars. Our
dedication to Country and service is a way of my family saying "Thank
You" to a Country that allowed us to cross the water and enter and to
allow us the chance to make our lives better, brand new. From
Grandfather to father to brother to sister and uncles and cousins (one
cousin - William Wayne Seay gave the ultimate sacrifice in Vietnam and
was awarded the Medal Of Honor) we have all given our time to our
Country. At one time over here my sister, my cousin and I were all in
theatre together. Some were raised to be actors, doctors and lawyers and
these are noble professions. My family - Deane's and Steiner's - see our
calling differently. Some 44 years ago a great man told us to ask not
our Country could do for us, but what we could do for our Country. I
have never nor will I ever ask of my Country to do for me, I simply give
to her without question.

6. Faith moves mountains. I have Faith in my God. And I know that if
anything should happen I will look forward to being in His arms and
standing with Him. There is a greater place and my Lord has a place for
me in it. My family will miss me, yes, BUT what a glorious day when we
will be reunited in the presence of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Faith keeps me going.

7. My family trusts and believes in me and that is all that matters. As
long as I can look at my children and my wife when I get home and know I
did the best that I could do and they love me, then that is all that I
am after. I have nothing to prove to anyone but to my wife and babies.

This is my last tour. I will volunteer for no more. I once told my wife
one day that as long as I believe that we are helping these people and

SPC (name withheld)
(Operation withheld)
ASR/AMR.NCO

"Those who dare to fail miserably can achieve greatly" - John F.
Kennedy


Classification: UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

If this e-mail is marked FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY it may be exempt from
mandatory disclosure under FOIA. DoD 5400.7R, "DoD Freedom of
Information Act Program", DoD Directive 5230.9, "Clearance of DoD
Information for Public Release", and DoD Instruction 5230.29, "Security
and Policy Review of DoD Information for Public Release" apply.

Doomed To Repeat It

Tune in Saturday morning at 9:00 AM PST for the Basham and Cornell Progressive Radio Show. On this weeks show we will have James Paul, who is Executive Director for the Global Policy Forum. He will be discussing the "War and Occupation in Iraq." You can listen online at the Basham and Cornell Progressive Talk Show


Guest Post by Mike

I was always fascinated by Ancient Rome, a civilization to which we owe much of our current legal system and democracy, and that controlled much of the known world at the time. I wondered how a civilization that endured for almost 1000 years and was the envy of the ancient world and the preeminent world power could collapse and fall so low that its fall ushered in a dark age where knowledge, science, peoples standard of living and quality 
of life all declined substantially and chaos reigned.


Before we look at The reasons behind Rome's tragic fall and the fall of all civilizations that aspire to empire, lets first look at the fragility of civilization, particularly complex civilizations, since they are the easiest to destroy. The reasons for this are precisely the very factors that allow the civilization to attain its high level of complexity, such as a well developed division of labor with each job requiring highly specialized skills and knowledge. Think for a moment, if most of our civilization were wiped out except for a small portion of the population, would any of you be able to design and build an airplane, build your own house, make a computer, a 
TV, grow our own food or make our own clothes etc....

History and science support the conclusion that our civilization is far more fragile than we dare to think. Michael Shermer in Scientific American, Aug 2002 studied 60 civilizations, both ancient and modern in order to determine the average life span of civilizations, Shermer, discovered that the average civilization endured 421 years, he also concluded that modern civilizations do not last as long as ancient ones. Among the 28 most recent civilizations post Rome, the average life span was reduced to only 305 years. The main reason is likely that modern civilizations are far more complex. By complex I mean we have a well developed division of labor, with jobs requiring specialized skills, as well as complex distribution systems and a complex hierarchical government. In addition modern civilizations, particularly those whose existence are based on cheap energy and consistent economic growth are far more likely to be adversarial and in direct competition for the natural resources required to maintain and protect their way of life.


Lets examine why dominant civilizations that start out so good and become world powers eventually collapse. There are MANY factors as well as clear signs which constantly are associated with the fall of civilizations. First and foremost is the greedy desire for empire. Rome squandered and wasted its resources fighting petty wars to grow and later to merely maintain their empire. Initially the plan was, since they were a dominant world power they would conquer and take the resources and money they needed, this worked while they were growing and had the money and military power to sustain that growth, however once they became so big that they no longer had the military or economic power to maintain, control and defend what they had no less keep growing, the empire imploded. When this happens, civilizations either decrease in complexity and are replaced by another dominant civilization and world power or the civilization falls completely, followed by chaos and a power vacuum.........in other words a dark ages ensues.


There are many clear warning signs exhibited by empires in decline such as the Roman Empire, The British Empire, Spain, and arguably America today These include:

1) huge debt levels


2) political corruption


3) unsustainable wars and military occupations


4) inflation


5) inequitable distribution of wealth, with the rich and powerful becoming ever richer, while the middle class is destroyed and is relegated to a huge underclass of poor, much like the plebeians or serfs


6) a rigid caste or class system with little chance of bettering oneself and little class mobility


7) debasing of the currency, followed by a corresponding increase in the price of commodities

8) a depletion of vital natural resources


9) a clear economic shift away from being a manufacturing economy that makes and designs things, to being a finance or money changing economy that doesn't make anything and shifts money from the poor and middle class to the wealthy elite money changers



10) Disdain for and neglect of the poor by the wealthy elite leadership


11) a destruction of freedom and democracy and a move to a totalitarian form of rule, with power being concentrated almost exclusively in the hands of a king, emperor or a "Decider" who does not tolerate dissent and supports the same ideas Hitler and the Roman emperors or the current Neo Con/PNAC "Unitary Executive" concept embrace.


Lets move forward and examine PNAC's "Unitary Executive" theory which goes against everything our Founding Fathers as well as Jesus stood for. PNAC is obsessed with making America the Preeminent Superpower by bullying, holding down and exploiting other countries. This concept of bullying those weaker and preventing them from bettering themselves seems to be a timeless and classic core tenet of conservatism and is in direct opposition to the Golden Rule. The greedy wealthy elite have used these tactics to oppress the poor since before Ancient Rome, and it has NEVER worked, the result of sinfully inequitable distribution of wealth combined with authoritarianism is ultimately economic depressions, revolutions and misery.

Historically we have done much better economically under Democratic administrations where policies are designed to benefit the vast majority of citizens rather than a tiny minority of powerful wealthy elites. We need to have good healthy relationships with other countries, that include cooperation and goodwill rather adversarial destructive relations where we are so hated, feared and reviled that terrorists can easily recruit people so committed to destroying us that they are willing to sacrifice their lives to do so. GWB's inept and bellicose policies have certainly made us more of a target to terrorists and helped to create more terrorists, however I think the biggest threats to our civilization and prosperity as well as to our military and economic dominance is an an energy crisis and/or a debt implosion.



The British Empire also collapsed from an unsustainable empire and high debt levels, they moved from a manufacturing economy to a finance/money changing economy and were replaced by the United States, both militarily and economically as the World power in the 20th century. The reasons for their decline were similar to Ancient Rome's decline and mirror our own decline in the 21st century. Our primary dangers today are unsustainable debt levels and a lack of energy resources. Great Britain faced a similar problem to the one America faces today in the 16th century, when they too were faced with an energy crisis, at that time their economy was based on wood, much as ours today is based on oil, wood was used as energy for heating homes and manufacturing as well as ship building. Britain's forests were rapidly depleted, much as our domestic oil reserves are today, wood prices rose eightfold and Britain began importing wood at great cost, echoing what we are doing today with oil, what saved Britain from collapsing as a civilization was not ignoring the problem and denying it, but taking action and changing the economy to one based on a new more readily available source of energy. Britain progressed to a coal based economy which helped them become the most productive economy of the time, and ushered in the Industrial Revolution that made them a world power and brought much of the prosperity the West has enjoyed since then.


To avert a collapse similar to Rome's, we need progressive leaders who think of the future and are willing to break from the preconceived group think of the past and take us in a new direction. I'd like to hear your opinions on who those leaders are that can take us in that new direction and ensure our continued prosperity and fix our tarnished image as a symbol of justice and freedom for all.


The Bush Presidency: Number by Number

As reported in the Blue Herald News the Bush Presidency has many accomplishments that often go unreported. These accomplishments are not necessarily good for Americans. In fact the Bush administration would like nothing better than for the eyes of the public to focus elsewhere.

Below will find a breakdown number by number of some of the "secret" things the Bush administration has been doing. Number by number, many secrets are revealed. Number by number shows they have a lot they need to answer for.

Number by Number;

The Courts

2,072 Orders of the Secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.While the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court does not reveal much about its activities, the Department of Justice reported that the FISC approved 2,072 orders — rejecting none — in 2005 but does not identify the activities being investigated or provide basic information about how the orders are used.

National Security Letters:

9,254 National Security Letters Issued A Justice Department report on secret wiretap warrants indicated that the government issued 9,254 National Security Letters during 2005. These letters can be used to obtain information about individuals without the government applying for a court-reviewed warrant.

Private Enterprise:

106 New Patents Kept Secret, 4,915 “Secrecy Orders” in effect in 2005, the federal government closed the lid on 106 patents. Overall, that brings the total number of inventions kept under “secrecy orders” to 4,915.

Classified Documents:

$134 Spent Creating New Secrets for Every $1 Spent Releasing Old Secrets.For every $1 the federal government spent in 2005 releasing old secrets, it spent $134 creating new secrets. The good news is that is a $14 drop from 2004. To put this slight drop in context—from 1997 to 2001, the government spent less than $20 per year keeping secrets for every dollar spent declassifying them.

17% of DOD FY 2006 Budget Is Classified or “Black”

“Black” programs accounted for 17 percent of the (FY) 2006 Department of Defense (DoD) budget of $315.5 billion, requested in 2005. Classified acquisition funding has nearly doubled in real terms since FY 1995, when funding for these programs reached its post:Cold War low.

Freedom of Information Act:

FOIA Requests Continue to Rise; Agencies can’t keep up adjusted for an abnormal increase in Social Security Administration numbers, the number of FOIA requests has increased by 65,543 requests since 2004. Agencies overall have been unable to keep up with the number of requests, with 43 percent more pending requests this year than in 2002.Used rarely in the Cold War, “State Secrets” Privilege Used at least 22 times since 2001 reported invocations continue to rise. The “state secrets” privilege allows the sitting U.S. president to nearly unilaterally withhold documents from the courts, Congress and the public. At the height of the Cold War, the administration used the privilege only 6 times between 1953 and 1976. Since 2001, it has been invoked a reported 22 times—an average in 5.5 years (4) that is close to twice as high as the previous 24 years (2.46).

Presidential Signing Statements:

132 Signing Statements challenging over 810 Federal Laws in George W. Bush’s Presidency. In the 211 years of our Republic to 2000, Presidents had issued fewer than 600 signing statements that took issue with the bills they signed. Among recent Presidents, President Reagan issued 71 statements challenging provisions of the laws before him, and President George Herbert Walker Bush issued 146. President Clinton issued 105. George W. Bush has issued at least 132 to date.

Image by Stephen Pitt Cartoons