Jan
31
by Michael Winship
Very well, ladies and gentlemen, I’m prepared to get this over with. No more dissembling, no more stalling.
Today, I am releasing all the photographs of myself and the President of the United States
Okay, it’s only one. And it’s not of this president. (See above)
It was taken ten years ago, in early May. We were in rehearsal for the last of five “In Performance at the White House” specials on which I worked for public television, preparing brief remarks for the President and Mrs. Clinton.
On the South Lawn, Linda Ronstadt was going through her set, singing hits like “Blue Bayou” and “Desperado.” President Clinton, dressed in jeans and a tee shirt, was working and listening on the Truman Balcony. He decided to come pay a visit, shaking hands with the crew as he made his way over to the stage.
For the record, at no time did we discuss policy, nor did any of us attempt to lobby or influence the president’s decision-making. As for my White House-related contributions, they were:
Disposable camera for production assistant — $9.50.
Roll of Certs for uniformed Secret Service guard — $1.00.
TOTAL: $10.50.
So, President Bush, it’s your turn. I showed you mine, you show me yours. Break out the snaps of you and disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Let’s see ‘em. And while we’re at it, give us the dates of and names of those in attendance at the various White House “staff-level” meetings Abramoff attended.
By now, you know that the White House has refused to release that information or those “grip-and-grin” photographs of President Bush with Abramoff at various White House functions, including two Hanukah receptions at which, presumably, Karl Rove and press secretary Scott McClellan were in charge of spinning the dreidel (During Passover, the afikomen is hidden in the Rose Garden amongst the Weapons of Mass Destruction.).
The president, with visions of Monica on the rope line dancing in his head, told last week’s press conference, “Those pictures will be used for pure political purposes and they’re not relevant to the investigation.” But as a source told Monday’s Washington Times, “The White House is making too much a mystery out of this and needs to release the dates, times, details and photos of the visits. It’s not like [Abramoff and Mr. Bush] were plotting to overthrow Iraq.” An increasing number of Republicans agree. Still, is there something you’re not telling us?
The chief executive’s hooks even have reached into the realm of commercial photography. Joshua Micah Marshall, of the indispensable Talking Points Memo website, found a company called Reflections Photography that sells photos taken at Republican events. Sure enough, noted for sale in their on-line catalogue was a photo of the president and Smilin’ Jack.
But, as Marshall reported, “When we went to the page for the photograph… the page in question had disappeared from the site. Indeed, in the sequence of photographs from the event in question, each had a unique identification number in perfect consecutive order. All were there, in sequence, with the exception of the one that was apparently that of President Bush and Abramoff.”
It also had been erased from a compact disc kept in the company’s archive: “The woman from Reflections told me that that this sometimes happened when the White House wanted to prevent the public from accessing certain photographs of the president.”
Ah, the imperial presidency. Except that in this case, instead of “Off with their heads!” it’s “Off with their headshots!”
It would be silly but for the fact that it’s so emblematic of this administration’s regal, arrogant attitude toward the public and its right to know.
Whether warrantless wiretapping or the treatment of foreign detainees, we are now meant to hail the exaltation of the executive over the other branches of government, abrogating the system of checks and balances that keeps democracy off life support.
You can set your Louis Quatorze clock by the regularity with which the royal will imposes itself. Tick: Noel Hillman, chief prosecutor in the Abramoff corruption probe, is nominated to a Federal judgeship by the president and steps down from the case, just as the investigation is gathering steam and may be edging closer to executive branch staff members. Coincidence, says the White House, but a Justice official admits to Time Magazine, “The timing is an issue.”
Tock: Sunday’s edition of the British newspaper the Daily Mail reported on further allegations that President Bush (with Tony Blair) “connived to dupe the United Nations” and decided to go to war in Iraq “regardless of whether they obtained UN backing.”
President Bush, the newspaper reported, quoting a new edition of law professor Philippe Sands’ book, “Lawless World,” “displayed his contempt for the UN, made a series of wild threats against Saddam Hussein and showed a devastating ignorance about the catastrophic aftermath of the war.”
Tick: the White House refuses to turn over to Congress documents relevant to its investigation of administration actions around Hurricane Katrina. Officials have been barred from interviews or refuse to answer questions.
Tock: the head of NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies is told to keep his mouth shut about global warming. James Hansen believes if temperatures keep climbing at their current rate the Atlantic will soon be lapping at the doorway of my lower Manhattan apartment building. But the White House doesn’t want you or me to know that. And so it goes.
“Shall we have a king?” was the question put to George Washington in 1787 by John Jay, the man who would become the Supreme Court’s first chief justice. Back then, the response was a resounding, “No.”
Today’s White House acts as if that was the wrong answer. But lawsuits and court challenges have begun. Three out of four Americans say Bush should disclose contacts between aides and Abramoff. Voices are raised. There’s some hope: more and more, it seems, we, the people, are not amused.
copyright 2006 Messenger Post Newspapers
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Jan
30
WP Article: States are cracking down on Shirly Phelps and her “Church”
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5 States Consider Bans On Protests at Funerals
Shirley Phelps–the church lady on the show a few weeks ago who was going to protest the funerals of the coal miners in in West Virginia–has drawn the attention of a number of state legislatures.
The idea I suggested to Shirley when she was on the show–that her people are intentionally trying to provoke an assault–is mentioned by a state legislator quoted in this story.
Jan
29
1.28.06 Show
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For your dancing and dining pleasure, here’s the 1.28.06 show—in it’s entirety. Back waxing, gay cowboys, the cost of the war in Iraq and Oprah.
Jan
24
Me and My Criminal Record
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Yesterday I testified before the Maine Legislature’s Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee. (Newspaper coverage here.) The subject was a bill that I hope will create some protections for individuals who have background checks done on them. Here in Maine, if you have someone’s name and date of birth and $25, you can get a criminal record history through a state police website. (A major from the State Police said yesterday he was surprised at how many times this is done by people who want to check out the person they’re dating.)
The problem is, the software that creates that report casts a pretty wide net. In my case a large company did a background check on me before hiring me, and they came up with a record that had assault and theft convictions on it. (I’ve only gotten in one fight in my life and that was when I got beat up by a girl in 6th grade.) The guy who actually did the crimes has a similar (but different) last name and a similar (but different) date of birth.
When I called the State Bureau of Identification to straighten this out their attitude was, basically, “it’s close enough.” Even if I had my fingerprints made and even if they could be compared to the person who did the crime, the record stays the same–those crimes remain on MY criminal background check.
This is a real problem, and I’m convinced people are turned down for jobs and perhaps housing and credit because someone else’s crimes show up on their background check—and they never know it happened.
With the help of the Maine ACLU (MCLU) we put a bill in the legislature that could improve things. My approach differs somewhat from the MCLU. Here’s what I think the bill should do:
•Everytime a prospective employer pulls a background check, they have to give a copy to the job applicant.
•If you can show the Bureau of Identification there is a mistake on your background check, they have to permanantly delink that information from your name.
•If mistakes are discovered and corrected, the Bureau is under obligation to send out a letter with a correction to anyone they’ve sent the inaccurate information to in the past.
You Can Help:
This bill is very much a work in progress. I’ll be going back to help the committee work on this Feb. 10. In the meantime, I urge you to contact members of the committee to tell them what you think. Here is the contact info for everyone on the committee.
And if you’re curious, here’s my rap sheet.
Jan
21
Tim Walz and the Gestapo
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When teacher Tim Walz came back from two years serving in the Army National Guard overseas, he took a couple of students to listen to President Bush at a rally in his town in Minnesota. When campaign officials found out that one of the kids, in addition to being a National Merit Scholar and a member of the local symphony, had also worked on a Democratic campaign the whole bunch of them were declared “a threat to the president” and the Secret Service was called.
The event was a wake up call for Tim, and he’s running for Congress. I called him on my radio show and I’ll put that segment up soon–but for now here’s Tim’s website:
Jan
17
January 14 Show
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Here are some segments from the 1.14.06 show:
Rundown
•Interviews with the people of Sago, WV
•Westboro Baptist Church protests miner’s memorial service
•Live report from Pakistan on CIA attack
•Senior Political Correspondent Michael Winship
The segment that generated the most response was Shirley Phelps Roper from the gay-hating Westboro Baptist Church. Her church was organizing a picket of the memorial service for miners in West Virginia.
Part One
Part Two
Want to know what the people in WV are really like? Listen to these interviews:
and
Jan
17
The Westboro Baptist Church
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The mayor of Buckhannon, WV told me he was expecting members of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas to show up and picket at the memorial service for the miners who were killed at the Sago Mine. They did. And Shirley Phelps Roper, one of the church leaders, came to my show on WGAN to talk about it. Here’s a sample (more in the post with highlights of the 1/14 show:)
Jan
17
Interviews from Coal Country
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Some of the folks I talked to in Sago, West Virginia:
Jan
17
Michael Winship on Mining
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This week’s column from Senior Political Correspondent Michael Winship deals with some of the issues around the Sago mine accident.
Jan
16
The Trouble with Jet Engines….
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A mechanic in Georgia was apparently standing in the wrong place (in front of an engine) when the pilot of a jet fired up the engines. Predictable results.
Here’s an amazing video from the cockpit of an F-16 that sucked a bird into the engine. In 45 seconds the pilot and crew were out of the plane and the plane was in the ground.
keep looking »