TresSugar

Front Page: Secret Order Let US Attack al Qaeda Anywhere

CitizenSugar — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 08:00:00 PST

A classified US order from 2004 authorized the US military to attack al Qaeda anywhere in the world. The order has allowed the US to secretly attack militants in Syria, Pakistan, and other places. - New York Times
President-elect Barack Obama will meet President Bush in the Oval Office today, to begin the transition of power. The two are expected to discuss the economy, the war in Iraq, and national security. Laura Bush will give Michelle Obama a tour of the White House. - CNN
Three bombs that exploded moments apart in Baghdad, Iraq yesterday left at least 28 people dead. Two of the explosions were car bombs and the third was a suicide bomber who blew himself up in the crowd trying to rescue people. - BBC News
An argument over Sunday's Alabama-LSU overtime football game ended with an Alabama couple shot to death. - Alabama Press-Register
A backlash against California's Proposition 8 has erupted. This weekend, same-sex marriage supporters protested the new law outside churches around the state, including a Mormon tabernacle. - San Francisco Chronicle

Fingerprint Database Silently Added for Mortgage Industry

LibertySugar — Mon, 26 May 2008 11:00:49 PDT

Privacy advocates, who usually find themselves opposing President Bush, are urging him to veto a housing bailout bill because it would create a national fingerprint registry for mortgage industry workers.

The fingerprint part of the bill, added by the Senate, is hidden in the lengthy bill, which appears to be about bailing out troubled homeowners.

The databased would encompass mortgage lenders, loan originators, and real estate agents. The registry, which was subject to little debate or public airing, is intended to create a national framework of consumer protection. The legislation would use the fingerprints when granting licenses from a newly created "Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry." Do you think fingerprints and background checks solve the crisis brought on by predatory lending and risky borrowing?

Does it bother you that Congress is considering a measure which would give the government much more information and individuals less privacy without much debate? Even if there are merits to the fingerprint database, how can impacted individuals weigh in on it? Should they be able to? Do you prefer a government that has less of your information, or more?

Source

Stone Finds His Cheney in Richard Dreyfuss

BuzzSugar — Thu, 22 May 2008 12:00:23 PDT

Come this Fall, the current administration will be movin' out of the spotlight just as Oliver Stone's movie about it is heading to theaters. As reported earlier this month, W. will be released October 17, 2008 so it's no wonder the casting news continues to break at a rapid pace. They've got George and Laura, and even found their British Prime minister and National Security Advisor-turned-Secretary of State but one of the most buzzed-about casting slots left to fill was that of Vice President Cheney. Now there's news that Richard Dreyfuss will likely fill those shoes.

The Hollywood Reporter notes similar public service roles Dreyfuss has taken on in his career thus far:

The 60-year-old Dreyfuss has never played a U.S. leader, but has had a few related roles. He starred as an opposition senator to Michael Douglas' commander in chief in 1995's The American President, as Alexander Haig in a television movie about Ronald Reagan and played the president of a banana republic in the 1980s comedy Moon Over Parador.

Usually Dreyfuss' name makes me think of Mr. Holland's Opus and What About Bob. Still, I think the acting veteran will have no problem pulling off this, ah, controversial White House guy. Rob Corddry is also signed on to play the president's former Press Secretary Ari Fleischer and Toby Jones will step in as Karl Rove. I believe that just leaves Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld open. Got ideas?

Source and Source

President Bush Wants to Pass Global Warming Initiative

LibertySugar — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 11:00:50 PDT

President Bush may ask Congress to consider legislation to combat global warming as early as this week. An unmanageable web of US regulatory law, as well as upcoming meetings with world powers, has motivated Bush to take action.

Currently businesses must follow three pieces of complex legislation: the Endangered Species Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and the Clean Air Act. Apparently, Bush wants to make it easier for corporations to assess and uphold what is required of them. But, according to the Washington Times, some Congressional Republicans fear runaway legislation and think Bush is making a mistake.

A debate in Congress about global warming will likely heat up in June, prior to the G-8 conference in July. We might get a preview this week, as US officials will be in Paris to meet with other world economic powers. All three presidential candidates want to increase action by the federal government. Specifically, they all endorse a cap-and-trade system similar to Europe's. It is unlikely that Bush wants to go that far, but it is still unclear what he has in mind.

What action would you like to see the US federal government take to cut greenhouse emissions and combat global warming? Do we need to streamline regulations to save the planet?

Source

President Bush Cries While Awarding Medal of Honor

CitizenSugar — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 00:00:28 PDT

President Bush bestowed the Medal of Honor, America's highest military award, to the parents of a Navy special operations sailor killed in Iraq two years ago. Petty Officer Second Class Michael Monsoor, then a 25-year-old gunner, covered a grenade with his body - saving the lives of his comrades, but sustaining wounds that took his life shortly thereafter.

Becoming visibly emotional, Bush said, "Mr. and Mrs. Monsoor, America owes you a debt that can never be repaid," he said. "This nation will always cherish the memory of your son. We will not let his life go in vain. This nation will always honor the sacrifice he made. May God comfort you. May God bless America."

This award is only the fourth Medal of Honor awarded since the war on terror began.

Are you surprised to see the Commander in Chief so moved?

Source

Thandie Is Condi and Gruffudd Is Blair in Stone's Bush Movie

BuzzSugar — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 09:30:45 PDT

Ordinarily, I wouldn't care quite so much about all the casting news for one movie, but Oliver Stone's project about George W. Bush is different. These are political figures that everyone is familiar with, and the project is about a president who's still currently in power. I have to admit, I'm intrigued. I wish I'd thought to do a recast challenge for this film, though so far I think the casting decisions have been interesting.

The most recent news has to do with National Security Advisor-turned-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and British prime minister Tony Blair, who will be played by Thandie Newton and Ioan Gruffudd, respectively. Newton is the first non-American cast member in this project to portray a US political figure.

In regard to the script itself, Hollywood Reporter remarks:

As one of the few cabinet members to serve during both Bush terms, Rice's role in the Bush White House is seen as pivotal. According to those who've read the W script, Rice is said to be in a key first scene as well as a number of scenes connected to the Iraq War. Blair also appears in Iraq-related scenes.

Still yet to cast: Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and advisor Karl Rove. Any ideas about who should play these parts?

Source

Elizabeth Banks to Play Laura Bush in Oliver Stone Movie

BuzzSugar — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 10:33:41 PDT

Oliver Stone is trucking right along with his George Bush biopic, W, for which Josh Brolin has already been tapped to play the current President. Today there's news about the woman Stone wants to portray First Lady Laura Bush: funny lady Elizabeth Banks.

This just cracks me up. Banks is so good at the fun, campy comedic stuff (or, in the case of Wet Hot American Summer, the fun comedies set at camp), like The 40-Year-Old Virgin and her recurring role on Scrubs. I think she's a great, capable actress, but the idea of her playing Laura Bush - especially walking off the set of the Kevin Smith movie Zack and Miri Make a Porno and into the White House - strikes me as rather hilarious.

Political movie role aspirations aside, Banks is everywhere these days. After starring in Definitely, Maybe, she went to work with her costar Seth Rogen on Porno, will appear alongside Paul Rudd in Little Big Men, and in the coming months she can be found in both Meet Dave (with Eddie Murphy) and Meet Bill (with Aaron Eckhart).

Source

Front Page: Bush on FISA, Election in Iran, Afghan Bombing

CitizenSugar — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 06:58:30 PDT

President Bush spoke just moments ago from the White House regarding the battle in Congress over FISA. House Democrats introduced their own version of the bill this week in an attempt to bypass the original legislation passed in the Senate. Bush said, "The House bill would make matters even worse . . . the House bill may be good for class-action lawyers, but it's terrible for the United States." Citing the need for the intelligence community to have the appropriate tools to fight terrorism, Bush said, "Voting for this bill will make us less safe." He concluded, "they should not leave for their Easter recess without getting the Senate bill to my desk."

Iran is set to hold an election tomorrow amid mixed perceptions of the enthusiasm behind the contest. Bans have limited the contest severely, the official campaign only ran for one week - including one day which was a public holiday - and the election itself is being held less than a week before the country shuts down for the Iranian new year holiday of Norouz. The Islamic Iran Participation Front party, which held the highest number of seats in parliament four years ago, had all of their candidates revoked because they allegedly lacked Islamic credentials. True reform candidates haven't bothered even submitting their names. Nevertheless, State television has been broadcasting stirring music and pictures of happy voters.
Just hours ago, a suicide car bomb attack on a convoy of US troops also killed six Afghan civilians. The renewed violence left at least 15 Taliban fighters and policemen dead. The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the blast, which detonated on the road to the capital's international airport. Four US troops also suffered minor injuries and 33 Afghans were wounded.

Bush Dedicates the War on Terror to Jesus

CitizenSugar — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 12:00:36 PDT

Though President Bush makes no secret of the influence his faith has on his agenda, rarely has the president mixed the language of faith and God so closely with talk of war and terrorism as he did yesterday in an address to the National Religious Broadcasters convention in Tennessee. Bush defended his actions in Iraq and Afghanistan with a 42-minute address attributing his faith to his foreign policy.

Coming just one day after spritual leaders protested President Bush's veto of limits to US interrogation techniques, his speech tying the war to a spiritual quest could raise eyebrows. In his speech Bush said,

The effects of a free Iraq and a free Afghanistan will reach beyond the borders of those two countries. . . . It will show others what’s possible. And we undertake this work because we believe that every human being bears the image of our maker. That’s why we’re doing this. No one is fit to be a master, and no one deserves to be a slave.

To see how tied "freedom" to God,

read more. Bush went on to call freedom a “precious gift,” and said, “The liberty we value is not ours alone. Freedom is not America’s gift to the world; it is God’s gift to all humanity.” From the audience came shouts of, “Amen!” Do you find it difficult to reconcile the two missions? On the one hand Bush has set out to deliver the divine gift of freedom, while on the other refusing to outlaw inhumane treatment of those who might stand in his way. Is it a case of "do as I say, not as I do?" Or, "damned if you do, damned if you don't?" Source

President Bush Sings Farewell to a Hilarious Presidency

LibertySugar — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 00:00:19 PDT

An unauthorized cellphone video of the American President-turned-American Idol has leaked on the Internet. Last weekend at the Gridiron, an annual roast attended by political journalists, President Bush sang a lighthearted ode to his time in the White House. His serenade was met with chuckles, applause, and a standing ovation.

I'm a little confused why the country's best journalists find the inept response to Hurricane Katrina, obstruction of justice by a top administration aide, and other Bush highlights, so absolutely side-splitting.

Now that the Bush Presidency is in its twilight, are you prepared to laugh at a musical recitation of its many scandals and crises sung by the President himself? To see the lyrics,

read more. Lyrics: Yes you're all gonna miss me, The way you used to quiz me, But soon I'll touch the brown, brown grass of home. I spent my days clearing brush I clear my head of all the fuss But the fuss you made over Harriet and Brownie Down the lane I look and here comes Scooter Finally free of the prosecutor Chorus And then I wait and look around me At the oval walls that surround me I realize I was only dreaming For there's Condi and Dick, my old compadre, Talking to me about some oil rich Saudi, But soon I'll touch the brown brown grass of home. Chorus That old White house is behind me, I am once again carefree, Don't have to worry 'bout a crisis in Pyongyang. Down the lane I look, Dick Cheney is strolling With documents he'd been withholding, It's good to touch the brown brown grass of home.