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Clinton: Secrecy Sparked Shooting Reaction 23 minutes ago Former President Clinton said Sunday the Bush administration's "enormous penchant for secrecy" sparked the strong reaction to Vice President Dick Cheney's shooting mishap. "We have people quite often who are shot in quail incidents, so I didn't feel the need to get into the pile-on," Clinton said Sunday on ABC's "Good Morning America." Cheney has been criticized for not disclosing the shooting on Feb. 11 of Texas lawyer Harry Whittington until the following day. "I think the White House should have said something about it sooner," Clinton said. "I think that it's...

NEW YORK Former White House Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater criticized Vice President Dick Cheney Tuesday for delaying the release of information about his hunting accident on Saturday, saying Cheney "ignored his responsibility to the American people." He told E&P he was "appalled by the whole handling of this."

Former Vice President Al Gore today invoked Martin Luther King’s legacy in a wide-ranging attack on President Bush’s handling of war on terror—accusing the president of breaking the law and calling the war in Iraq a “colossal mistake.” Gore delivered an animated and passionate speech that latest nearly 90 minutes. His address was co-sponsored by the American Constitution Society and Liberty Coalition. MoveOn.org heavily promoted the event to its members. Much of Gore’s speech was devoted to Bush’s national security initiatives, including the domestic eavesdropping program that Democrats have tried to seize as an issue for the 2006 midterm elections....

Former Vice President Al Gore called Monday for an independent investigation of President Bush's domestic spying program, contending the president "repeatedly and insistently" broke the law by eavesdropping on Americans without court approval. Speaking on Martin Luther King Jr.'s national holiday, the man who lost the 2000 presidential election to Bush was interrupted repeatedly by applause as he called the anti-terrorism program "a threat to the very structure of our government." Gore charged that the administration acted without congressional authority and made a "direct assault" on a special federal court that authorizes requests to eavesdrop on Americans. One judge on...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The United States needs to set milestones for progress, not a firm withdrawal date, before it can leave Iraq, Virginia governor and prospective Democratic presidential candidate Mark Warner said on Monday. "This Democrat doesn't think we need to re-fight how we got into (the Iraq war). I think we need to focus more on how to finish it," Warner said. "To set an arbitrary deadline or specific date is not appropriate," he said. "... It is incumbent on the president to set milestones for what he believes will be the conclusion." Warner outlined an Iraq policy...

DES MOINES, Iowa - Former Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle said Saturday that President Bush's presidency "is essentially over" but warned that Democrats can't count solely on Republican troubles to win in the next election. "I don't think it's enough for us to watch the Republicans self-destruct," Daschle said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I think it's important for us to set forth some ideas that give the party an opportunity to define itself and to contrast with Republicans." Daschle focused on increasing the use of alternative fuels and energy efficiency, and on repairing a health care system...

Daschle Calls for Troops Pullout by 2008 Thursday November 3, 2005 12:01 AM By MARY CLARE JALONICK Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - Former Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle says all U.S. troops ought to be withdrawn from Iraq by the end of 2007. The South Dakota Democrat, defeated for re-election last November, made the comment in a foreign policy speech set for delivery in Chicago on Wednesday, three days before a planned visit to politically pivotal Iowa. Daschle has raised his public profile in recent weeks and has not ruled out a presidential run in 2008. In an advance...

Sen. John Kerry says President Bush should bring home 20,000 troops from Iraq over the Christmas holidays if the December parliamentary elections there are successful. Defeated by Bush last year and a potential candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008, Kerry called for a "reasonable time frame" for pulling back troops rather than a full-scale withdrawal advocated by some Democrats. He said it could be completed in 12 to 15 months. "It will be hard for this administration, but it is essential to acknowledge that the insurgency will not be defeated unless our troop levels are drawn down, starting...

It is now almost a weekly ritual: a member of the ossifying liberal establishment, looking very defeated and victimized, complains vaguely about some lost privilege. The person will couch his narcissistic complaint in the form of accusing someone of "turning the clock back," not sufficiently respecting "precedent," disregarding "scientific consensus," and so on. All they mean is: the monopoly power liberals once enjoyed across the culture is now gone, and that the public should regard the left's erosion of power as a great loss to the republic. Dan Rather has performed this week's lament to an expiring liberal era. According...

Have a look at this just-received email from Kerry, touting a speech he will be giving at Brown regarding the hurricane and W's response. Definite Category 5 Hurl material. ----------------------- Dear , In a few hours, I will deliver a major address at Brown University about what the rage and destruction of Katrina have revealed. I want you to be one of the first to read and reflect upon the text of this speech for a very simple reason. It's time for each and every one of us to say what needs to be said -- with the full force...

Kerry, Edwards Blast Bush Over Katrina By JUAN-CARLOS RODRIGUEZ, Associated Press Writer 24 minutes ago Two Democrats who might seek the White House again in 2008 criticized President Bush for his response to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, assailing the suspension of wage laws while urging a concerted effort to aid the poor. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts and former Sen. John Edwards spoke separately Monday on the government's handling of the catastrophe and on the broader issue of poverty in the United States. In a blistering critique, Kerry said former FEMA Director Michael Brown was to Hurricane Katrina "what...

DES MOINES, Iowa The former military analyst who leaked the Pentagon Papers says the nation's leaders plan on staying in Iraq permanently, but the people who have the proof aren't willing to share it. Daniel Ellsberg says President Bush aims to keep bases in Iraq, and that the American public was lied to when the country entered the war. He urged those with access to the sensitive information to share it, saying there are both rewards and potential backlash for whistleblowers. He says they may go to prison, but they may save a wars worth of lives. The Pentagon Papers,...

Former Vice President Al Gore urged Americans on Friday to hold the Bush administration accountable for failing to adequately prepare for and respond to Hurricane Katrina. "When the corpses of American citizens are floating in toxic flood waters five days after a hurricane struck, it is time not only to respond directly to the victims of the catastrophe, but to hold ... the leaders of our nation accountable," Gore told environmentalists at the Sierra Club's national convention. Gore had been scheduled to give a speech to state insurance commissioners in New Orleans this weekend about the likelihood that global warming...

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (Sept. 9) - Al Gore helped airlift some 270 Katrina evacuees on two private charters from New Orleans, acting at the urging of a doctor who saved the life of the former vice president's son.Gore criticized the Bush administration's slow response to Katrina in a speech Friday in San Francisco, but refused to be interviewed about the mercy missions he financed and flew on Sept. 3 and 4. However, Dr. Anderson Spickard, who is Gore's personal physician and accompanied him on the flights, said: "Gore told me he wanted to do this because like all of us he...

Success has many parents; failure is an orphan. That's the kind of fickle armchair opinions offered by some public figures and media commentators who are waffling supporters or critics of our mission in Iraq. Without embarrassment, their speeches and writings bounce around with the day's headlines. Who cares? They're just a bunch of talking heads anyway. And, with the expansion of choices in media, people are able to choose which ones reinforce their own dispositions. Surveys show that supporters tend to watch Fox, and opponents tend to watch CNN. The importance is two-fold. First, the larger middle is affected and...

Tuesday, Sen. John F. Kerry (D) Massachusetts demonstrated in the OP/ED Pages of the New York Times in a piece “The Speech the President Should Give” one reason he stills sits at the same Senate desk he’s held down since 1984. Mr. Kerry’s remarks seem a grab bag of initiatives untried by the Bush administration in Iraq for one giant reason: They will not work. With so many initiatives, Mr. Kerry must be duck hunting again with his scatter gun. Where to begin breaking down his missive is the least troubling question presented. Mr. Kerry calls for a U.N. Multinational...

TONIGHT President Bush will discuss the situation in Iraq. It's long past time to get it right in Iraq. The Bush administration is courting disaster with its current course - a course with no realistic strategy for reducing the risks to our soldiers and increasing the odds for success. The reality is that the Bush administration's choices have made Iraq into what it wasn't before the war - a breeding ground for jihadists. Today there are 16,000 to 20,000 jihadists and the number is growing. The administration has put itself - and, tragically, our troops, who pay the price every...

Policies on Social Security, health care also draw fire By STEVE URBON, Standard-Times senior correspondent NEW BEDFORD -- Sen. John F. Kerry yesterday called on Americans to be more aware of the "bait and switch" Iraq war and the "hollowing out" of the Army in the pursuit of a mistaken policy. In a swing through SouthCoast, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee attacked the priorities of the Republican Party and President Bush, elaborating on what they are sacrificing -- health care for children, infrastructure, Social Security -- in the pursuit of tax cuts. "The Holy Grail of the Republican Party is...

Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), continuing his sharp attacks on the man who beat him in last year's White House race, on Thursday denounced President Bush's budget and his recent nominations of leading conservatives to two high-profile foreign policy posts. The budget Bush submitted to Congress failed to uphold basic values of "honesty, opportunity and responsibility," Kerry told the Center on National Policy, a Democratic think tank. In response to a question, Kerry charged that Bush's nomination of Undersecretary of State John R. Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations and Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz as president of...

The White House is blasting former President Clinton for trying to upstage President Bush with a "we feel your pain" condolence message to the victims of the deadly Indian Ocean tsunami that struck Christmas weekend. Reacting to complaints that Bush was missing in action in the wake of the disaster, White House spokesman Trent Duffy told reporters Tuesday, "The president wanted to be fully briefed on our efforts [before speaking out]. He didn't want to make a symbolic statement about 'We feel your pain.' " The "feel your pain" reference was a direct slap at President Clinton, who had irked...