Jun. 26, 2004 - 17:56 MDT

THE WONDERING JEW

Bush's Photo Ops

No real news I think. Rocky Mountain News of June 25 has an article by David Stout of The New York Times.

Cheney secrecy OK

VP needen't divulge advisers on energy policy, court decides

"WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court handed a major political victory to the Bush administration Thursday ruling 7-2 that Vice President Dick Cheney is not obligated, at least for now, to release secret details of his energy task force."

"The majority of the justices agreed with the administration's arguments that private deliberations among a president, vice president and their close advisers are indeed entitled to special treatment -- arising from the constitutional principle known as executive privilege -- although they said the administration still must prove the specifics of its case in the lower courts."

"As a practical matter, the outcome Thursday means that the final resolution will not come until well after the November election."

"Critics of the Bush administration have long complained that its energy policies are far too friendly to the energy industry It is no coincidence, the critics have said, that Cheyney was formerly the chief executive of energy giant Halliburton. In pursuit of their claims, the critics have been trying to learn the names of the industry officials consulted by the administration when it was developing its polices in early 2001."

The critics scored a victory when the lower courts held that Judicial Watch, a conservative legal organization and the Sierra Club, a liberal environmental group, were entitled through the discovery process, or pretrial information gathering, to the names and roles of the private citizens who deliberated with the energy panel."

"Discovery orders ordinarily are not appealable before a trial on the principle that they would create far too many piecemeal appeals. The administration urged the justices to make an exception, asserting that discovery itself, in this case, violated the Constitution by intruding on a president's 'core functions' of seeking advice and developing legislation."

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I guess the main Headline told the whole thing, at least in my mind it did. Seems to me that the administration has a lot to hide carrying things this far. If they are fighting to keep it secret, what the heck are they trying to hide from us ? Might have something to do with the "no bid" stuff going to Iraq and things like that. Looks to me like the adminstration wants to govern in complete secrecy if they have a chance. And of course, putting off the final resolution until well after the election in November pretty well puts the administration "home free," it looks to me.

I just ran onto a cartoon by Wiley in his Non Sequitur panel. It shows Custer on top of a rise with three soldiers kneeling with their guns pointed at the enemy and a veritable hail of arrows showering down on them with Custer saying, "Mission accomplished." Sorta reminds me of Mr. Bush in full flight gear landing aboard an aircraft carrier trying to convince the public of something, "Mission Accomplished." was it ? Looks to me that some of these pictures are trying to say more than they show. I don't like any of the pictures taken at Bush's Photo Ops . . . . . . . .

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