[Ninong]

We haven't had an Enron update in a good while now and this one contains a lot of new "colorful" quotations from recorded telephone conversations. You really need to read the whole thing, including the chronological summary at the end of the article to truly appreciate the depth of this conspiracy. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...type=printable

On a side note, is there anyone who believes Scalia will either recuse himself or vote to force Cheney to turn over his energy meeting notes so that we can all see Kenny Lay's 18 recommendations that were adopted practically verbatim? I don't think so. The vote will be 5-4 in favor of the veep keeping everything secret. After all, if citizens can't offer suggestions to the administration, they might stop writing those $100,000 checks to help pay for the inaugural balls.

I agree with Cheney, the whole energy mess was California's fault. Free markets should be allowed to remain free of government regulation or oversight. What's the sense of getting control of both houses of Congress and the White House if you can't jack up the energy prices a little? But if we have to have these stupid government regulatory commissions, at least we can put our people on them so that nothing gets regulated and as far as the oversight part is concerned, let's just change that to "overlooked."


In December 1994 after Bush was elected governor, Ken Lay urged in a letter that Pat Wood, a backer of utility deregulation, be appointed to the state Public Utility Commission. Bush appointed Wood a year later.

As president, Bush in August 2001 appointed Wood chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Lay had urged Wood's appointment to the FERC.

Also, in a January 1995 letter to Bush's appointments director, Clay Johnson, Lay asked that Frank Maresh be promoted to chairman of the Texas State Board of Public Accountancy. Maresh, already a member of the board, got the top job.


Yeah, right, the same FERC that is investigating Enron for alleged wrongdoing. Pat Wood is one of several people Ken Lay interviewed in advance of their appointments to the FERC so that he could give the administration the benefit of his advice. The president appointed two of the three people Kenny asked him to appoint to the FERC. And one of those, Pat Wood, is now chairman. Must be tough having to investigate your patron. Will Kenny Lay ever be charged with anything? (P.S. -- Wasn't it thoughtful of Kenny, and Enron, to save file copies of all his correspondence? )

[schrocat]

Why do you hate Amoco? ...err I mean America.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by schrocat

Why do you hate Amoco? ...err I mean America.

Rabble rouser!

Speaking of which, we haven't heard from wgscott in a long time, have we? Maybe he's busy promoting Michael Moore's latest Palme d'Or worthy offering? At least Moore's no longer chasing down aging GM execs or hammering rabbits. Or catching poor old Charlton Heston in a state of dementia. Maybe wg is working on Nader's bid to win the Greenie Party's endorsement even though he claims to be uninterested in their nomination? What's up with that?

Not much fun over here since the Young Republicans and radical Libertarians have all gone into hiding. I can understand how the Repubs are not exactly eager to discuss the Bushies' foreign policy successes but one would think that the anti-both-parties crowd would be overflowing with conspiracy theories right now. There's just so much to work with.

Remember the thread where wg was tweaking the chiroquacker guy? That was fun. On second thought, maybe we should leave well enough alone.

[Ninong]

Oh, I almost forgot. Kenny Boy is about to get indicted. Could happen by the 4th. of July. Now that they have already indicted two dozen other assorted Enron execs and close to a dozen affiliated bankers and accountants, looks like Kenny Boy's days are numbered. I think they were just waiting for Andy Fastow to tell them everything he knows first.

[schrocat]

haven't seen a wg post in over a year! is he alive?
when our foreign policy was at the apex of knuckle dragging, I took my licks on (of all places) a performance car discussion board for some time...
although they don't seem to want to talk about it now.

"Cha-Ching" Chalabi was the last straw for most, I noticed.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by schrocat

"Cha-Ching" Chalabi was the last straw for most, I noticed.

Colin Powell and George Tenet were right about that guy and Wolfie and Rummy were wrong as usual. I won't even mention Cheney.

Speaking of Rummy, it's a shame that we are so messed up over there right now all due to his instance that the army brass had no idea how to fight a war or occupy a country. Every time he's proven wrong by events it turns out that those miscalculations cost us American lives.

[schrocat]

I saw testimony today from Wolfy that was hilarious. (not sure if it was Live CSPAN).
He basicly blamed the entire Iraq security problem on "contract scrutiny" which slowed the purchasing for "critical" items.

That's a tough pill to swallow.
Unless you're Rush.

[Ninong]

Rush doesn't do pills anymore. Haven't you heard?

Contract scrutiny? Yeah, like Halliburton's, for instance. Who scrutinized that? But hey, they did agree to refund something $100-$150 million that they overcharged us for gasoline. What patriots!

I didn't hear Wolfie say anything about "contract scrutiny" but he's being quoted as admitting that we may be in Iraq for "years." Isn't it about time they resurrected the "hearts and minds" campaign? We haven't had one of those in decades. They're doing such a bang up job winning new friends all over the world, it's hard to imagine that they're having such difficulty winning the hearts and minds of the wonderful citizens of Iraq who are no doubt patiently waiting to shower us with roses and kisses.

I feel much safer already, how about you?

P.S. -- Don't forget that the former Army Chief of Staff testified before Congress that in his opinion it would take a minimum of 300,000 to 400,000 troops to pacify Iraq after the main fighting was over and Rummy ran him out of town on a rail. John McCain is a big fan of Rummy's. You should hear some of the things he has to say about him.

[schrocat]

McCain...
ummm...Rove told a friend, who told an aide, who told a Congressman, who told his hairdresser that McCain was a "nutty war veteran".
Sean Hannity backs them up
so...I believe them!

I hope Rush didn't stop!
Life is easier since I allowed his drug induced visions of America into my car radio, and subsequently my mind.
He's like an Oxicotin fueled shaman!!!

[Ninong]

Rush has assured us that what happened at Camp Cropper and Abu Ghraib was no different that what happens at a typical Skull & Bones initiation... maybe even Bohemian Grove? That Rush is a real swinger.

[schrocat]

Well he did harp endlessly about drugs lowering inhabitions...
But I don't think anyone assumed he was actually speaking from personal experience.
Dude!...you're on to something bigger than WHITEWATER!
Spankgate!!!!

I wonder if his core audience has shrunk at all?
I say this because the two guys that listened to him at work...don't anymore.
...I'd ask them why, but I'm afraid it might invoke his hypocritical presence again.
My lunch digests better when he isn't on.

[Ninong]

Speaking of Wolfie again, the Bushies' Numero Uno War Monger, he's on Hardball with Chris Matthews today complaining about unbalanced media coverage. Guess what example he gave to prove his point? He's upset that the media are not airing stories about Saddam's treatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib to balance out all the hysteria and overblown coverage of what some of our troops may have done in that same prison.

Good grief! I had no idea there was a comparison to be made. Are we putting ourselves on an equal footing with the likes of Saddam Hussein? Besides, the news media's job is to report news -- current events. Maybe he's confusing CNN with the History Channel?

And what's with Geedubya saying that he never had any substantive talks with Chalabi, just happened to meet him at the State of the Union address for a few minutes. Boy is that a big lie! He told Tim Russert in an Oval Office interview on Feb. 8, 2004 that he had met with Chalabi in the Oval Office to discuss the constitution for the future government of Iraq. Chalabi is the guy who got all those defectors to lie to Cheney and Rummy and give them false info on WMD sites. He's also the guy the Bushies now blame for letting the Iranians know that we had broken their code. Does that make him a double agent, a triple agent or merely a double-crossing agent? Rummy finally cut off his $300,000+ monthly allowance. They would have been much better off if they had written incentives into his contract that called for him being paid so much per WMD discovery and nothing if he made us look like a bunch of suckers. Colin Powell is still laughing over this one.

[schrocat]

I like Powell.
I hope he writes a book about all this.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by schrocat

I like Powell.
I hope he writes a book about all this.

Why not, everybody else is.

[Ninong]

Dude, I have been meaning to mention this but I haven't found a "friendly" thread before to slip it in, but doesn't it strike you as ironic that the most vervent supporters of the present administration are probably the most disappointed? I mean, after all, some of us knew what to expect from the beginning but what about all those people on the far right who thought they were voting for a government-reducing, budget-balancing, compassionate conservative who would not engage in nation building or embroil us in adventurous foreign policy. Whatever happened to Fortress America and get the U.N. out of the U.S.? Boy, are those folks ever disappointed.

With all the new tell-all books coming out right now it looks like Democrats can just sit back and enjoy the show. The Repubs are tearing each other to shreds. And what about the non-partisan 9/11 commission that Geedubya finally consented to only after he had no choice? The Republicans on that commission are his most vocal critics. And what's with the F.B.I. guys testifying that Ashcroft lied in his previous testimony before the commission?

We will have to start a whole new thread devoted to nothing but Republican attacks on the administration. Have you read some of McCain's comments about Rummy? No love lost there.

[Ninong]

How about relatives of famous Republicans who attack the administration? Does that count?

A few quick statistics:

Number of WMD found in Iraq to date: 0

Number of American lives saved from threat of Saddam: 0

Number of times the Vice President of the United States used the F-word on the floor of the United States Senate yesterday: 1 (maybe more) -- speaking to U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy. The quotation, confirmed by at least four sources who heard it, was "F... you."

Number of days since the Veep's last heart event: 1300 (give or take a few) but his pacemaker may be turned up a bit too high.

Number of people named Ronald Reagan who said they would vote for anybody who could defeat George W. Bush: 1 (Yesterday, June 23, 2004, on Larry King Live.) He also said: "We lied our way into the war... It's a terrible mistake, a terrible foreign policy error."

Gee, will they invite him to the Republican National Convention to take part in his father's canonization ceremonies? And why stop with Mount Rushmore or the dime or the ten dollar bill? How about the Ronald Reagan Memorial Moon? Has a nice ring to it, doncha think?

And what do they do about the Governator? The networks will want him to speak during prime time but that might be too much charisma overload for Geedubya to deal with. On the other hand, if everybody is paying a lot of attention to St. Ronnie of Teflon and Ah-nult, maybe they will overlook the Iraqi situation and the enormous budget deficits?

[schrocat]

The gut punch wheezing noise in my neck of the woods came with the illegal alien amnesty proposals.
Then the drivers licenses for illegal aliens discussion caused some eyes to twitch...water up a bit, but they sure don't blink do they?! LOL!!!

btw...
sent an email to wg.
he's doing great!
he asked how you were

[schrocat]

Cheney Curses at Sen. LeahyThursday, June 24, 2004
WASHINGTON — Vice President Dick Cheney (search) cursed at Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy during a confrontation on the Senate floor while members were having their annual group picture taken earlier this week, Leahy and Senate sources said Thursday.

Senate aides with knowledge of the encounter Tuesday said the vice president confronted Leahy about some of the Democrat's criticism about alleged improprieties in Iraq military contracts awarded to Halliburton Co. Cheney, who as vice president is president of the Senate, is a former CEO of Halliburton (search).

Leahy responded by criticizing the White House for standing by allies who had accused Democrats of being anti-Catholic last year in opposing one of President Bush's judicial nominees, said one Senate aide, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Cheney then responded, "F—- off" or "F—- you," the aide said.

That account was backed by another aide, also speaking on condition of anonymity.

Leahy, D-Vt., confirmed that the confrontation took place but would not provide details.

"I think he was just having a bad day," Leahy said. "I was kind of shocked to hear that kind of language on the floor."

[Ninong]

Well, I for one can certainly understand why the Veep would be so upset with Sen. Leahy. He not only accused Halliburton of being a bunch of kleptomaniacs, he insinuated that they were a bunch of inept kleptomaniacs.

We hired Halliburton to help us run Iraq better (no-bid contract) and look what's happening over there! They're robbing us blind. You'd think that they could have gone a little easy on the graft seeing as how Cheney is in charge of running things now but no, steal while the stealing is good!

[wgscott]

See?

I told you so.


You all thought I was nuts. But it all came true. In fact it is even worse than I thought it was.