Osama Six-Pack

(See link above)

The House yesterday passed an anodyne resolution commemorating the fourth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

It extended sympathy to the victims and survivors; honored the military, first responders, and others who helped; thanked foreign leaders for their support; declared that America is not waging war "on any people or any faith"; reaffirmed a commitment to the global war on terrorism; and vowed "never [to] forget the sacrifices made" on 9/11 or to "bow to terrorist demands."

No one could disagree with that, right?

Not quite.

The House vote for the resolution was 402-6; . . . .

Here are the six far-left Democrats who voted "no":
1.) John Conyers (Mich.)
2.) Barbara Lee (Calif.)
3.) Jim McDermott (Wash.)
4.) Cynthia McKinney (Ga.)
4.) Pete Stark (Calif.)
5.) Lynn Woolsey (Calif.)

Can anyone with more than one functional brain cell, who practices the art of thinking intellectually-honest thoughts, conclude that these people are probably something LESS than Patriotic?? I think the answer is a resounding, "YES!!" Maybe someone who disagrees can explain that to me, . . .

God Bless,
Dan'L

MoveOn.org Implies Bush at Fault for Levee Breaks

By Jeff Johnson
Senior Staff Writer

September 9, 2005

(CNSNews) -- MoveOn.org presented three survivors of Hurricane Katrina to the media outside the White House Thursday to draw attention to the group's ongoing criticism of the Bush administration.

About 100 supporters of the liberal political group descended on Pennsylvania Avenue and spent most of their time blaming the president for the allegedly slow local, state and federal response in New Orleans; and, indirectly, for the failure of the city's levees.

One woman who stopped to show her support for President Bush received a loud and emotional rebuke from a MoveOn.org protester.

New Orleans residents Iona Renfroe, Michelle Augillard and Christine Mayfield recounted their stories of surviving the storm and the described the lack of assistance they received in the aftermath. Each criticized the federal government without addressing accusations of early failures by local and state officials.

Renfroe, a New Orleans attorney, claimed that there has been "absolutely no response by the federal government ... absolutely nothing has been done."

According to the Department of Homeland Security, as of Tuesday, the federal rescue effort involved more than 71,000 personnel and has resulted in more than 45,000 rescues, including 23,000 by the U.S. Coast Guard. Approximately 273,000 citizens had been evacuated and two-thirds of them are still being housed in 550 federally-organized shelters around the country. Federal authorities had gathered and distributed 11.3 million military "Meals Ready to Eat" and 18 million liters of drinking water.

Tom Matzzie, Washington director of MoveOn.org Political Action, also focused his criticism on the Bush administration, calling the federal response to Hurricane Katrina "a national disgrace.
"What looks like incompetence by the president and his appointees is actually something worse," Matzzie claimed. "This is what government looks like when it is in the hands of people who don't believe in government, who want to privatize, who want to cut back and reduce the ability of the government to serve its people."

Mattzie also blasted President Bush for comments suggesting that state and local officials share in the responsibility of preparing for and responding to natural disasters.

"He and his team don't want an effective government that can protect people who work hard and pay taxes," Matzzie continued. "Instead, they want to give huge tax breaks to wealthy Americans. The result is that there is no effort left, or there is no ability left for the government to respond to the needs of its citizens, especially in times of crisis."

MoveOn.org protester clashes with Bush supporter
Clarice McMillan, of Alexandria, Va., was standing about 25 feet behind the MoveOn.org protesters holding a small, hand-written sign that read, "Support the president and love the people." She had been there for only a few minutes when she was confronted by a screaming MoveOn.org supporter.

"Damn you! Supporting the president's great, but supporting the people and the Constitution is more important," the unidentified woman screamed at McMillan. "The Constitution and the babies who died is [sic] more important than any president and you know that in your heart."

Another MoveOn.org supporter pulled the now crying woman away, telling her, "Don't make this the event." Other protesters criticized members of the media for videotaping the confrontation and interviewing McMillan, who said she understood the verbal assault.

"Well, she was upset. She was just upset. It's okay, I can understand that people get emotional," McMillan said. "I want the people to get help, but I don't think this is the time for blame and criticism or the time for MoveOn.org to take advantage of this."

MoveOn.org supporters continued to heckle members of the press and interrupt McMillan as she explained why she lodged her one-woman counter-protest.

"I think we all need to be supporting our president. Not only our president, but the other people who work for him," she said. "He's not the only one in the government to be blamed for anything ... just to blame one person, to me, that isn't right.

"I support the president," McMillan concluded. "I don't say that he does everything right, but nobody does, you know?"

MoveOn.org claims contradicted by federal spending records
Speaking with Cybercast News Service after the event, Matzzie implied that cuts by the Bush administration might have been responsible for the breaching of New Orleans levees.

"The administration, OMB (Office of Management and Budget) cut out of the budget, what was it, $71 million in funding for the levee upgrades in Louisiana. OMB is a function of the White House, the OMB director reports to the White House," Matzzie said. "And, that money could have been used to upgrade the levees."

But records Cybercast News Service obtained from the U.S. Senate's Energy and Water Development Subcommittee paint a different picture. According to an analysis of funding for Corps of Engineers projects from fiscal years 2001 through 2005, Louisiana was the top recipient of funding in the country, getting $1.9 billion of the Corps' $22.9 billion budget.

The three Corps flood control projects surrounding New Orleans received a total of $391 million in direct funding during that five-year period.

Tom Schatz, president of Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW), believes there was more than enough money to correct any deficiencies in the levee system, even without funding the Corps of Engineers. But, in his opinion, much of the money was wasted.

"Like all the other appropriations bills Energy and Water has been filled with pork," Schatz complained. "It's the nature of the problem in Washington that members of Congress like spending money, especially on pork-barrel projects, and that means that significant national priorities are ignored."

CAGW identified nearly $631 million in what it considers pork-barrel projects just in the 2005 Energy and Water Appropriations Act. The group's 2005 "Pig Book" details millions of dollars for such projects that went to Louisiana following the efforts of the state's congressional delegation, especially Democratic U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu and former Republican U.S. Rep. and current Sen. David Vitter.

"$43,813,000 for projects in the state of Senate appropriator Mary Landrieu and the district of House appropriator David Vitter, including: $11,450,000 for the J. Bennett Johnston Waterway ($9,000,000 for construction and $2,450,000 for operation and maintenance," CAGW states.

The group also notes that on Jan. 9, 2000, the Washington Post said the waterway "still carries less than 0.1 percent of the commercial traffic on America's government-run river transport system - even though it receives a remarkable 3.4 percent of the system's federal funds."The list of projects CAGW considered wasteful also included $2,000,000 for a "sugar-based ethanol bio-refinery" at Louisiana State University; and $500,000 for "alternative fuel plant construction" in Livingston Parish.

Schatz said he isn't sure if the death and destruction caused by Katrina will cause members of Congress to "wake up and smell the coffee you can't drink in New Orleans anymore.

"It is just outrageous," Schatz concluded, "and I don't know [that it's] shocking enough to members that they will actually forego some of their local projects."

CAGW is asking members of Congress to sign a pledge not to add extraneous funding to federal relief bills for hurricane victims. Four members of Congress had signed the document as of Thursday. Another eight had expressed their intent to take the pledge, but had not yet returned a signed copy to the CAGW offices.

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As with virtually everything the Democrats come into contact, these days, they aren't about to allow the FACTS to get in their way. On the same date as this protest march down Pennsylvania Avenue, to the address of 1600. The Washington Post publishes a major article showing that George W. Bush, nor his federal agencies need bear responsibility for the levies, or the lack of response to Hurricane Katrina. Big Surprise!!

So, . . . it remains to be seen, just how the mainstream media will work with their comrades at MoveOn.org and the extreme left portions of the Democrat party, in informing the American public as to the FACTS surrounding what we now know was a terrible disaster, and an even worse response by government agencies in protecting the citizenry from harm. VRWC offers "Nice Going!" awards to the Governor of Louisiana and the Mayor of New Orleans. Hopefully the voters will remember, (how could SOME of them forget?).

God Bless,
Dan'L

The Blame Game Part Two

From even before the beginning of this crisis, the Louisiana Governor,Kathleen Blanco, has treated this situation as a political issue. As I watched her last Sunday morning press conference, I was amused at how she invoked the President's name on several occasions.

Blanco noted how she spoke to the President the day before (Saturday, Aug.27) and how it was Bush who called her to issue a state of emergency for the state of Louisiana. This was unusual since I know (from relatives, living in Florida) that it is usually the Governor who makes this declaration. But even more unusual was how Blanco noted that it was also the President who called her to insist and plead that she issue a mandatory evacuation.

At the time I didn't realize why she was turning all this responsibility over to the President, . . . but then I realized why. Just a year ago when Hurricane Ivan barely missed the city of New Orleans, both the Governor and the city planners took extreme heat for the inconveniences they caused their population when hurricane Ivan didn't hit their city. Both state and local officials took criticism from all areas, including their failures to prepare for that hurricane.

Amazingly, that criticism led to the slow reactions we saw this past weekend as Katrina approached the Louisiana coast. Each public official looked to the other to make the life-saving calls because they didn't want to be responsible for another false alarm . . . . In other words, there was no leadership from the start. When President Bush called on Saturday to ask what the heck was going on, the governor finally took action because she now had her scapegoat should Katrina not hit the city.

What's outrageous about this is that we only have to go back to hurricane Ivan to see what this reluctance meant. From the beginning the mayor was warned of his inadequate city plans. He did NOTHING! This was even exposed in an AP report from September 19, 2004, by Kevin McGill entitled, "Ivan exposes flaws in New Orleans’s disaster plans." Not only was the mayor warned about his problem of relocating the poor, homeless advocacy groups insisted he make changes. Again, he did NOTHING.

A quote from that AP article notes: "They say evacuate, but they don't say how I'm supposed to do that," Latonya Hill, 57, said at the time. "If I can't walk it or get there on the bus, I don't go. I don't got a car. My daughter don't neither." Even the ACLU criticized the mayor, noting, "If the government asks people to evacuate, the government has some responsibility to provide an option for those people who can't evacuate and are at the whim of Mother Nature," said Joe Cook of the New Orleans ACLU.

The mayor had a full year, and yet, nothing was done. And this is reprehensible since even the American Red Cross informed the mayor that they would no longer be setting up shelters within the city for hurricanes over category-2. They informed the mayor that it was just too dangerous and that his city was ill-prepared to handle that kind of crisis. Others even warned that the Superdome was insufficient since it would turn into an island with thousands trapped. This all happened a year ago. Mayor Ray Nagin's spokeswoman, Tanzie Jones, responded to the criticism, "Our main focus is to get the people out of the city." No kidding?!?

What's disturbing about all of this is how Mayor Nagin ignored most of his own "Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan": (A. Evacuation Time Requirements) "Using information developed as part of the Southeast Louisiana Hurricane Task Force and other research, the City of New Orleans has established a maximum acceptable hurricane evacuation time standard for a Category 3 storm event of 72 hours." Katrina was already a Category-3 hurricane, predicted to hit New Orleans from at least Friday. So much for being prepared, ehh??

Continuing with Nagin's emergency plan: "The City of New Orleans will utilize all available resources to quickly and safely evacuate threatened areas. Those evacuated will be directed to temporary sheltering and "feeding" facilities as needed, . . . special arrangements will be made to evacuate persons unable to transport themselves or who require specific life saving assistance." Hmm, . . . yet we have all seen the pictures of school and city buses sitting, unocupied and useless, in drowned-out parking lots. What makes this all the more deplorable, is that neither of these public officials had ordered "mandatory" evacuations until after hearing from the President on Saturday, . . . and that was already well within the 72-hour window.

The partisan politics didn't stop there. Every state governor has a National Guard at their disposal, . . . not to mention all the State Police and various other law enforcement agencies at their disposal. Louisiana still retained 66% of their National Guard for a crisis just like this one. In fact, having been declared a state of emergency by the President (last Saturday), the governor not only has the power to request federal resources, she can request the National Guard from surrounding states. She did neither, before this storm.

In fact, according to a report from the Washington Post: "A power struggle emerged, as federal officials tried to wrest authority from Louisiana Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (D). Shortly before midnight Friday, the Bush administration sent her a proposed legal memorandum asking her to request a federal takeover of the evacuation of New Orleans, a source within the state's emergency operations center said Saturday. The administration had sought control over National Guard units, normally under control of the governor. Louisiana officials rejected the request, noting that such amove would be comparable to a federal declaration of martial law." Now, this statement has been twisted and spun into various versions of partisan "fact," and it's incumbent upon the Washington Post to clarify, because they had it right, the first time, . . . but they won't.

What makes matters worse is that this governor failed to even use her own National Guard for the purposes of law enforcement, something granted to her under Article IV, Section 5 of the State Constitution. This was also a political decision because she did not want to be the person giving orders that might result in the shooting of "poor, black people." Can you imagine the outrage come election day?? This was made more difficult since not only did the mayor of New Orleans, but also her own Attorney General, begin justifying the looting shortly after the hurricane passed. How could they suddenly establish order after dismissing this criminal activity under a "need to survive." Is it any wonder why cops walked off the job to attend their own families?? Not only were they not getting the support they needed, their own leaders were helping to perpetuate the chaos that followed. ABC News even had video of two female NOPD officers looting a Wal-Mart store, pushing a shopping cart filled with personal items, while wearing their NOPD uniforms, themselves.

What's ironic, is that these people even had almost a 24-hour window to clean up this mess (and evacuate) and establish order after the hurricane passed, . . . and before the levees broke. I was stunned to learn that not only did some bars stay open, but some reopened by late Monday afternoon. You could see the celebratory attitude of some, as they relocated from their balconies in the French Quarter to the streets below, . . . exhaling over what they thought was another near-miss. Even Sheppard Smith (Fox News Network) who would later become a very vocal critic, was breathing a sigh of relief. Sadly, city officials alsodropped their guard, as other city dwellers did, . . . . all thinking they got away with another close call.

While we all understand the need to survive, the lawlessness that was allowed to break out immediately after the hurricane passed would only complicate rescue and recovery efforts. As a result, chaos ensued and the governor, for political reasons, just would not take control of a situation that would surely destroy her political chances if poor, black people were killed, . . . especially since many in her own administration were dismissing this criminal activity. You could even hear the justification by some as if these people were owed these things. The sad fact is, there was a complete lack of leadership from the start, . . . but it was missing from the local and state levels, NOT the federal level.

Unfortunately, this security issue would also impede the arrival of any external support. It should be noted that FEMA is not in anyway an armed response team. In fact, as part of their mission statement, it is understood that their response time for such crisis is generally 3-5days, . . . and this is under the best of circumstances. I know, because, as I said, I have relatives who live in Florida and have witnessed it firsthand, as they didn't role into town for a couple days.

Before we start blaming FEMA and the federal government, I think there aresome very serious questions that need to be asked and answered. The reason that FEMA is not a first responder is because it is assumed that both the state and local officials could at least handle things for a few days. Not to mention that unlike local governments, the Federal government has to transport, scout the area, clear any debris and setup their own mobile operations, . . . .something the state is at least expected to do to help alleviate problems.

Let's just forget the hurricanes for a moment and ask how it is that a city living below sea-level, with a risk of a levee break or torrential rainfall at ANY time, was in no way prepared to even feed or clothe those that may be left behind for 3-5 days?? How is it also that a city as big as New Orleans only had one shelter "of last resort" for the poor and elderly?? Granted, there were other less publicized locations and we did learn the Convention Center would later become a defacto shelter, but how is it that supplies weren't designated for these shelters when even after Ivan last year they were warned of this inadequacy?? How??

The mayor promised that he would establish a more orderly evac/refuge system after Ivan last year. And this is very relevant when we look at the security issues and the federal response that had to follow. In fact, one of those immediate problems was the Convention Center itself, which was never designated as a refuge by the state, yet became home for up to 30,000 residents. As Mike Brown from FEMA noted on Friday, he and his team weren't even aware of this location until Thursday, Sep. 1. Maybe that points out a flaw in procedures, but certainly not a flaw in preparedness from the FEMA perspective.

Because of this lack of planning, we now had approximately 60,000 refugees just between these two shelters alone. And because there were no provisions for either food and water, . . . or adequate security, we "immediately" had a chaotic situation. The very reason you need numerous, smaller shelters is so you can allocate resources and control more easily. And while others may have existed, the Superdome (and Civic Center) were allowed to become the primary refuge site for an entire city, without thinking about the consequences. And as with everything else, this was not a new problem as Hurricane Georges in 1998 showed the city they weren't prepared to even handle 14,000 people. Unfortunately, these circumstances meant that the very food and water drops that people expected to see, couldn't happen at that time.

As many Guardsmen and military people have now noted, you cannot just drop a "limited" amount of supplies into a large population that is already hungry and chaotic. And that doesn't even include the logistics of getting this support into a flooded, ravaged region. The images of Somalia and Afghanistan prove this to be true as people fought, shot and killed each other to reach the supplies. This action had the potential to create even more deaths, . . . especially since security and law enforcement presence wasvery limited at these locations. And while before this event I may have conceded that Americans would never behave in this manner, . . . it took only aday for me to realize that I was wrong.

The fact is, the very security and lawlessness that the mayor and governor dismissed as "people needing to survive" was the genesis of why things couldn't get done in a timely fashion. Even the normal responders such as the Red Cross refused to enter until their safety could be assured. All ofthis was a result of the lack of preparedness and leadership from those in state and local government.

What's also missing from this discussion is that the Federal government not only had New Orleans to deal with, they still had the rest of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and even parts of Florida; a total land mass of something like 90,000 square miles. Think about that, . . . and then think about our supposedly "limited" government that is being asked to act like a first-responder. Why have a state or local government with elected officials, if all they are going to do is moan and groan, after the fact. All of these issues are the responsibility of the state and local officials, . . . and I don't see ONE thing they got right, making everything more difficult from the start.

This is also another perfect example of how the dependency on the federal government has created an attitude of entitlement, where people can't even plan for their own survival if needed. Tuna and tap water doesn't cost alot, . . . even for the poorest among us. Three to five days is what was required of the state under the best of circumstances, . . . and neither them or some citizens could handle that. Add the fact that these people have always lived in a fishbowl, below sea-level, knowing what could happen at any time, simply astounds me. It wasn't Katrina or George Bush that destroyed this city, . . . it was the local politicians.

God Bless,
Dan'L

SENATE MAY APPROVE RACE-BASED GOVERNMENT FOR NATIVE HAWAIIANS

Speaking of unintended consequences, . . . With most of the nation distracted by the destruction of Hurricane Katrina and the first Supreme Court confirmation hearings in nearly a decade, the Senate may quietly approve a bill to recognize native Hawaiians as a new Indian tribe and establish a separate governing authority for people of their race within Hawaii.

"This is the worst bill you've never heard of," said John Fund, political analyst for the Wall Street Journal.

More: http://www.HumanEventsOnline.com/article.php?id=8859

R.I.P. Maynard G. Krebs

This picture shows Actor Bob Denver accepting the Pop Culture Award as actress Tina Louise (right), who played Ginger on "Gilligan's Island," looks on during a taping of the second annual TV Land Awards in Hollywood March 7, 2004.

Denver, who portrayed character Maynard G. Krebs on an early sit-com, "Dobie Gillis," a few years before he played Gilligan on the hit comedy series 'Gilligan's Island', has died at Wake Forest University Baptist Hospital in North Carolina, according to agent Mike Eisenstadt in a statement issued September 6, 2005. He was 70 years of age.

Rest In Peace Maynard, you were so very successful at making us laugh. Thanks so very much, . . . and Godspeed, my friend!

God Bless,
Dan'L

Y2K - Deja vu -- All Over Again!

The clock is ticking on a new Y2K-style techno scare in 2007 - thanks to Congress.

As with most federal legislation, our Senators and Representatives look at it, first and foremost, through the magnifier that measures "votes gleaned," as opposed to "constituency benefits," as they should. Let me suggest that, with all the havoc they've created of late, by using that approach; they really need to apply some level of understanding of the effect of the legislation, BEFORE they vote. There's a new feeling of deja vu, reminiscent of the Year 2000 Problem known as Y2K.

That's because legislators slipped a measure into the energy bill that President Bush signed on August 8th extending daylight-saving time by four weeks - a change-up that machines already programmed for the annual hour jump may not be prepared to cope with. President George W. Bush signed the Energy Policy Act of 2005. This Act changed the time change dates in the U.S. Beginning in 2007, DST will begin on the second Sunday of March, and end the first Sunday of November. Note that the Secretary shall report to Congress on the impact of this change. Congress retains the right to revert the Daylight Saving Time back to the 2005 time schedules once the Department study is complete.

That's right VRWC loyalists, Daylight-Savings-Time would start three weeks earlier in the spring and last one week longer in the fall.

"Missiles won't be launching, but it's still going to cause a lot of hassle," said technology expert Lauren Weinstein, warning that the big risks will be to the technologically challenged who have come to rely on computers and electronic date books to help meet their appointments.

"Things advance to the point where you expect things to happen automatically and you expect it to be correct," he said.

The idea behind the bill is to save energy by giving people that extra hour of summer sun for an additional month. Wowie -- Zowie!! More time on the golf course, ehh?? Will that really generate a lot of votes??

But machines that work on the old system - falling back one hour on the last Sunday of October and leaping ahead on the first Sunday of April - cannot be reprogrammed as easily as politicians can rewrite a law. Congress last changed the time system in 1987.

The biggest threat for most people is probably those missed appointments.

"It wouldn't be a society-wide catastrophe, but there would be a problem if nothing's done about it or we try to move too quickly," said Dave Thewlis, head of a group that promotes standards for calendar software.

And people who want their auto-programmed VCRs to record the right shows may have to pull out the instruction manual.

"It is unfortunately going to add a little bit of complexity for consumers," said Reid Sullivan at Panasonic Consumer Electronics Co.

As the general public goes through this issue, which may end up having a similar effect to what really happened on January 1st of 2000, they need to remember the folks who offered it to them, based on their ability to vote, instead of the effects it may have on their lives. Remember, you heard it right here, on VRWC, first and foremost, with the cutting edge of news that effects YOUR life. Thanx Congress!! We really appreciate all you do for us!!

God Bless,
Dan'L

Blame Game?? -- (More Evidence of Media Bias)

One of the things you won't hear from Bob Shieffer, on the CBS Evening News, . . . we are now learning that Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco might have had a direct role in delaying federal assistance in the Katrina disaster. The story is now surfacing, (anywhere, except the mainstream media), that at one point George Bush offered federal help, and Governor Blanco, (a Democrat, by the way), said that she preferred to wait for 24 hours before she made that request. That sure gets in the way of the Blame Bush game, doesn't it??

God Bless,
Dan'L

John Roberts' Critics Outraged All Over Again

By Susan Jones
CNSNews.com
Senior Editor

September 6, 2005
Groups that oppose the nomination of Judge John Roberts to replace Sandra Day O'Connor on the U.S. Supreme Court are even more furious now that President Bush has nominated Roberts to serve as chief justice.

President Bush made the announcement Monday morning, after learning that Chief Justice William Rehnquist had died of complications from thyroid cancer late Saturday night.

"Now that Roberts' attitudes toward women have been revealed, it is an outrage and an insult to the women of this country that George W. Bush has nominated such a jurist to be Chief Justice of the United States," said National Organization for Women President Kim Gandy in a statement on Monday.

NOW insisted that President Bush must "release every document" from Roberts' previous jobs in the administrations of President Ronald Reagan and the first President Bush.

"How dare Bush nominate this candidate for the top position on the Supreme Court when his administration has deliberately concealed hundreds of thousands of pages of his writings, during a time that he was one of the top lawyers representing the people of the United States?," Gandy asked.

"If the Bush administration refuses to release these papers, we must ask ourselves what they are hiding. And the Senate must ask the same question."

NOW urged the Senate to "ask even tougher questions" of Roberts during his confirmation hearing.

"If Roberts is confirmed as chief justice, Bush will have established right-wing leadership of the Court for another 30 years -- a lifetime legacy of the Bush presidency that women and girls will have a lifetime to regret," Gandy said.

She also criticized President Bush's "cynicism and lack of compassion" in nominating Chief Justice William Rehnquist's successor so soon after Rehnquist's death.

"Bush's lack of sensitivity has been on prominent display this past month as he avoided Gold Star mom Cindy Sheehan and was stubbornly slow responding to the humanitarian crisis in New Orleans and Mississippi. With the South still in turmoil from Hurricane Katrina, Bush is pressuring the Senate to rush through this very important process and confirm John Roberts to a lifetime as chief justice while the country is looking the other way," Gandy complained.

NOW also urged President Bush to take a "second opportunity" to name a "moderate woman" as Justice O'Connor's replacement.

'Important precedent'
The Alliance for Justice, which also opposes Roberts' nomination, issued a statement urging the Senate to insist that the White House "provide all materials shedding light on Roberts' views on privacy, civil rights, women's rights, public health and worker protections." That includes all memos dating back to Roberts' tenure in the U.S. Solicitor General's Office, the Alliance for Justice said.

"The way the Senate handles the Roberts nomination will set an important precedent for future nominations to the Supreme Court," said Nan Aron, president of Alliance for Justice.

As for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's replacement, Aron said President Bush "should confer with senators to choose a consensus nominee."

'Added dimension'
Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat who has expressed reservations about John Roberts' nomination, said the Senate's "advice [sic] and consent responsibility takes on an added dimension" with Robert's nomination to serve as chief justice.

"When the Senate turns to these matters we will be mindful that we also share with the President the responsibility for approving a successor to Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. We look forward to consulting with him on the makeup of the Supreme Court. These are lifetime appointments that we can expect to extend into the lives of our grandchildren and great grandchildren."

Leahy added that the most urgent challenges facing the nation at this time are relief for "Americans still suffering in New Orleans and throughout the Gulf."

Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), another member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Roberts' nomination to serve as chief justice means the stakes have become greater - and that means John Roberts "bears a heavier burden when he comes before the Senate."

Kennedy said a review of the documents released so far raises "serious concerns" about Roberts' support for voting rights, women's rights and equality:

"Before the Senate acts on John Roberts's new nomination,
we should know even more about his record, and we should
know whom the President intends to nominate as a
replacement for Sandra Day O'Connor," Kennedy wrote.
"The American people care deeply about the overall balance
of their highest court, and its dedication as an institution to
the protection of their rights."

Kennedy said given the "national disaster of biblical proportions" along the Gulf Coast, it is difficult at this time for the American people to participate fully in the selection of the next chief justice.

"The President should take this time to unite and heal the country -- by remaining focused on helping the hurricane victims recover, honoring Chief Justice Rehnquist's memory by allowing the nation to mourn, and taking time to ensure our next steps on the Supreme Court point the country in the direction of progress."

Bush Nominates Roberts as Chief Justice

WASHINGTON - (Today) - President Bush on Monday nominated John Roberts to succeed William H. Rehnquist as chief justice, and called on the Senate to confirm him before the Supreme Court opens its fall term on Oct. 3.

The swift move would promote to the Supreme Court's top job a man who currently is being considered as one of eight associate justices.

"I am honored and humbled by the confidence the president has shown in me," Roberts said, standing alongside Bush in the Oval Office.

"He's a man of integrity and fairness and throughout his life he's inspired the respect and loyalty of others," Bush said. "John Roberts built a record of excellence and achievement and reputation for goodwill and decency toward others. in his extraordinary career."

The selection of Roberts, who has drawn little criticism, helps Bush avoid new political problems when he already is under fire for the government's sluggish response to Hurricane Katrina and the president's approval ratings are sagging.

Getting a new chief justice of Bush's choosing in place quickly also avoids the scenario of having liberal Justice John Paul Stevens making the decisions about whom to assign cases to and making other decisions that could influence court deliberations. As the court's senior justice, Stevens would take over Rehnquist's administrative duties until a new chief is confirmed.

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As you can tell, I swiped the text, above, from one of the wire services. I cannot tell if it's been modified, from its original form, by the two or three subscribers it probably passed through, before I got hold of it. Now, after reading it, again, (especially the final paragraph), can ANYONE honestly say that they don't see the media bias, against the current Commander-In-Chief?? These people HATE George W. Bush, and everything he stands for. It's time we put them in their place, by speaking out against their self-professed "tolerance and diversity" attitude toward all things. I, for one, am completely fed up with this kind of partisan attack always coming from the extreme leftists who permeat our media!

God Bless,
Dan'L

Chief Justice Dead of Cancer

William H. Rehnquist had served as the Chief Justice of the United States since 1986.

William Hubbs Rehnquist (born October 1, 1924, Died September 3, 2005) was an American jurist. He was a former law clerk and Assistant Attorney General and had served as the 16th Chief Justice of the United States since he was elevated from associate justice by President Ronald Reagan in 1986.

Early life
Rehnquist was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After finishing high school, he attended Kenyon College and entered the U.S. Army Air Force. Rehnquist served in World War II from 1943 to 1946, working as a weather observer in North Africa.

After the war ended, Rehnquist attended Stanford University with assistance under the provisions of the G.I. Bill. In 1948, Rehnquist received a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in political science. In 1950, Rehnquist went to Harvard University, where he received a master's degree in government. He returned later to law school at Stanford University, where he graduated first in his class (ahead of Sandra Day O'Connor, who came in third).

Rehnquist went to Washington, DC to work as a clerk for Justice Robert H. Jackson during the Court's 1951–1952 terms. There, he wrote a memorandum arguing against school desegregation while the court was considering the Brown v. Board of Education case. Rehnquist later claimed that the memo was meant to reflect Jackson's views and not his own.

Rehnquist later moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where he was in private practice from 1953 to 1969. During these years, he was also active in the Republican Party, and served as a legal advisor to Barry Goldwater's 1964 presidential campaign. During the 1986 Senate hearings on his nomination to serve as Chief Justice of the United States, several people came forward to complain about what they had perceived as Rehnquist's attempts to discourage minority voters in Arizona elections when Rehnquist served as a "poll watcher" in the early 1960s, though the allegations did not describe illegal behavior. Rehnquist denied the charges completely and was confirmed by a wide margin, although by less than Antonin Scalia, who was nominated to fill Rehnquist's seat as an associate justice of the Supreme Court.

Justice Department and Supreme Court service
When President Richard Nixon was elected in 1968, Rehnquist returned to work in Washington. He served as Assistant Attorney General of the Office of Legal Counsel, from 1969 to 1971. In this role, he served as the chief lawyer to Attorney General John Mitchell. President Nixon mistakenly referred to him as "Renchburg" in several of the tapes of Oval Office conversations revealed during the Watergate investigations. Nixon nominated Rehnquist to replace John Marshall Harlan II on the Supreme Court upon Harlan's retirement, and after being confirmed by the Senate by a 68-26 vote on December 10, 1971, Rehnquist took his seat as an Associate Justice on January 7, 1972. There were two vacancies on the court at the time; Nixon nominated Lewis Franklin Powell, Jr. to fill the other.

On the Burger Court, Rehnquist promptly established himself as the most conservative of Nixon's appointees, taking a narrow view of the Fourteenth Amendment and a broad view of state power. He voted against the expansion of school desegregation plans and the establishment of abortion rights (dissenting in the 1973 case Roe v. Wade), and in favor of school prayer, capital punishment, and states' rights.

When Chief Justice Warren Burger retired in 1986, then-President Ronald Reagan nominated Rehnquist to fill the position. Despite controversy, he was confirmed by the Senate and assumed the office on September 26.

Since becoming Chief Justice, Rehnquist has continued to lead the Court's move towards taking a broader view of state powers in the U.S. federal system. For example, he wrote for a 5 to 4 majority in United States v. Lopez, striking down a federal law as exceeding Congressional power under the commerce clause. Rehnquist had also led the way in establishing more governmental leniency towards state aid for religion, writing for another 5 to 4 majority in Zelman v. Simmons-Harris (2002) approving a school voucher program that aided parochial schools.

Rehnquist also created a unique robe for himself as Chief Justice in 1994. It has four golden bars on each sleeve. In the past, Chief Justices had not dressed differently than any of the Associate Justices. Rehnquist's robe was modeled after a robe he had seen in a production of Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta Iolanthe, first staged in London in 1882. The costume which inspired Chief Justice Rehnquist, an acknowledged Gilbert and Sullivan fan, is worn by the Lord Chancellor, a character called upon to settle a dispute among a colony of fairies.

Family life
Rehnquist married Natalie Cornell in 1953. She died on October 17, 1991 after suffering from ovarian cancer. They had three children: James, Janet, and Nancy. His daughter Janet is a former Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Rehnquist often spent summers in Vermont.

Rehnquist, who was the first justice of Scandinavian descent, had a Norwegian lineage.

Health problems
On October 26, 2004, the Supreme Court announced that Rehnquist had recently been diagnosed with thyroid cancer, and that he had been hospitalized at Bethesda Naval Medical Center for the past five days. In a brief statement, the Court said that Rehnquist underwent a tracheotomy two days prior. This led to renewed speculation in the media over Rehnquist's health and his possible retirement and replacement. Rehnquist has long struggled with back problems, and developed a dependence on the prescription sedative Placidyl to ease his back pain, for which he underwent a drug addiction treatment program at the George Washington University Hospital in the early 1980s. William Hubbs Rehnquist died of thyroid cancer on September 3, 2005, with his family surrounding him.