Lanny Davis Resigns- he's on c-span now.

[Care4all]

lanny davis is on c-span now...washington journal, taking caller's questions...

here's a tidbit about it...starting around the 4th paragraph.

care

MSNBC.com


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McNulty, Davis Resignations a Blow to Bush
In a blow to the Bush administration, the deputy attorney general and the only Democrat on the White House's Privacy and Civil Liberties Board have resigned.
WEB EXCLUSIVE
By Michael Isikoff
Newsweek
Updated: 8:54 p.m. ET May 14, 2007
May 14, 2007 - The White House was hit by two sudden resignations late Monday, when Paul McNulty, a top Justice Department official, and Lanny Davis, the only Democratic member of the president’s civil liberties watchdog board, announced they were stepping down. Both resignations are likely to fuel allegations of White House political meddling in law-enforcement and national-security issues.

McNulty, the deputy attorney general, cited the “financial realities of college-age children” as the reason for his resignation. But a close associate, who asked not to be identified talking about private conversations, said that McNulty’s decision to leave now was prompted in part by his disenchantment with both Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and top White House officials over their handling of the U.S. attorney controversy.

In particular, McNulty was stunned last March to discover that Gonzales’s former top aide, Kyle Sampson, and White House officials—including deputy counsel Bill Kelley in a crucial March 7 strategy session—had failed to inform him and one of his deputies about the early White House role in the decision to remove the prosecutors, the associate said.

At the same time, Davis, a former Clinton White House official who had been named by President Bush to serve on the Privacy and Civil Liberties Board, sent a letter to the White House and his fellow board members protesting the panel’s lack of independence. In recent months, Davis has had numerous clashes with fellow board members and White House officials over what he saw as administration attempts to control the panel’s agenda and edit its public statements, according to board members who asked not to be identified talking about internal matters. He also cited in his letters criticisms by the former co-chairs of the September 11 commission, Thomas Kean and Lee Hamilton, that the board had interpreted its mandate too narrowly and was refusing to investigate issues such as the treatment of detainees in Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere around the world.

Davis’s frustration reached a peak last month, when White House lawyers engaged in what he described in his letter as “substantial” edits of the board’s annual report to Congress. Davis charged that a majority of the board sought to remove an extensive discussion of recent findings by the Justice Department’s inspector general of FBI abuses in the uses of so-called “national-security letters” to obtain personal data on U.S. citizens without a court order. He also charged that the White House counsel’s office wanted to strike language stating that the panel planned to investigate complaints from civil-liberties groups that the Justice Department had improperly used a “material witness statute” to lock up terror suspects for lengthy periods of time without charging them with any crimes.


When Davis protested the attempted deletions, he said the board was told that the White House lawyers feared that because the material witness law was used by U.S. attorneys, a new probe of that issue would become a part of the larger controversy over the firing of U.S. attorneys. “I found this reason to be inappropriate—and emblematic of the sincere view, with which I strongly disagreed, of at least some administration officials and a majority of the board that the board was wholly part of the White House staff and political structure, rather than an independent oversight entity,” Davis wrote in his letter.

Carol Dinkins, the chairman of the board, confirmed to NEWSWEEK that the White House counsel’s office had in fact objected to the language in the report about the material witness statute and that she had sent an internal e-mail to other board members suggesting that a board probe of the Justice Department’s handling of the issue “might be construed” by others as complicating Gonzales’s problems at the Justice Department. But Dinkins, a former deputy attorney general in the Reagan Justice Department and a former law partner of Gonzales’s, noted that, after Davis’s objections, much of the language announcing the board’s intention to investigate the Justice Department’s material witness law was restored. (The final report also included language about the inspector general's findings relating to national security letters.) “I’m disappointed that Lanny felt he needed to resign because we’ve had a very collegial and hard working board,” she told NEWSWEEK.

Asked to comment, White House spokesman Tony Fratto told NEWSWEEK that "McNulty's letter made it clear that he was leaving for personal and financial reasons. I think that speaks for itself." On Davis, Fratto added: "We appreciate his service and all the work he did. We respect his decision to resign."

The five-member civil-liberties panel was created by Congress in November 2004 as part of a series of government-wide reforms recommended by the September 11 Commission. Its purpose is to monitor whether new counterterrorist measures are unduly infringing on civil liberties. But critics said from the outset that the panel was a toothless watchdog because it was placed within the Executive Office of the President and staffed by White House aides—an arrangement that some critics said made it impossible to be independent. But Dinkins told NEWSWEEK she disagreed. “I think the board can function very well in its current construct, as part of the White House,” she said. Lanny Davis plainly disagreed.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18665704/site/newsweek/


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MSN Privacy . Legal
© 2007 MSNBC.com

 

[red states rule]

Who cares if Davis leaves?

 

[Care4all]

Who cares if Davis leaves?

the president appt'd him to this bi partisan commission to over see civil liberties.

he was the only democrat on the commission.... it is no longer bi-partisan, i guess?

and he has some very valid points of disagreement and concerns....that he also thinks congress needs to correct parts of the mandate for this commission.

 

[red states rule]

the president appt'd him to this bi partisan commission to over see civil liberties.

he was the only democrat on the commission.... it is no longer bi-partisan, i guess?

and he has some very valid points of disagreement and concerns....that he also thinks congress needs to correct parts of the mandate for this commission.

Valid points?

This from the guy who to this day still defnds Bil over his perjury?

The guy is a left wing nut case

 

[Care4all]

Valid points?

This from the guy who to this day still defnds Bil over his perjury?

The guy is a left wing nut case

Do you think this is why President Bush picked him as the Democrat on this bipartisan civil liberties commision?

 

[red states rule]

Do you think this is why President Bush picked him as the Democrat on this bipartisan civil liberties commision?

It was another worthless example of trying to work with libs

After six years I would think he would now not to waste his time

 

[Care4all]

It was another worthless example of trying to work with libs

After six years I would think he would now not to waste his time

If you don't have representation for the Democratic side, then 50% of our citizens in America would NOT be represented....

That sounds like communisim, or fascism, not a REPRESENTATIVE Democracy...does it, or the Democratic Republic, that we are suppose to honor and support?

I wonder why this board allowed their info gathered to be cherry picked for the "report"? And I wonder why the FBI that clearly broke the law is not at least censured for doing such?

Director Mueller apologized profusely for the FBI's spying illegally, maybe that is enough?

But I am not certain more of a censure wasn't the proper and more just way to go. So to stop future illegally activities from happening or at least thought about thoroughly including the legal consequences before breaking the Law... but not even a slap on the hand?

Where is the protection we are suppose to have to prevent this illegal spying from happening or at least down to a minimum? Instead 10's of thousands of American citizens were illegally spied on by the FBI I believe...unless it was the NSA and Mueller is over that too?

They have since incorporated this illegal spying program in to FISA and now it is legally being overseen, so at least it has not continued!

Care

 

[red states rule]

If you don't have representation for the Democratic side, then 50% of our citizens in America would NOT be represented....

That sounds like communisim, or fascism, not a REPRESENTATIVE Democracy...does it, or the Democratic Republic, that we are suppose to honor and support?

I wonder why this board allowed their info gathered to be cherry picked for the "report"? And I wonder why the FBI that clearly broke the law is not at least censured for doing such?

Director Mueller apologized profusely for the FBI's spying illegally, maybe that is enough?

But I am not certain more of a censure wasn't the proper and more just way to go. So to stop future illegally activities from happening or at least thought about thoroughly including the legal consequences before breaking the Law... but not even a slap on the hand?

Where is the protection we are suppose to have to prevent this illegal spying from happening or at least down to a minimum? Instead 10's of thousands of American citizens were illegally spied on by the FBI I believe...unless it was the NSA and Mueller is over that too?

They have since incorporated this illegal spying program in to FISA and now it is legally being overseen, so at least it has not continued!

Care

By all means Care - keep protecting the rights of terrorists and hand cuff the government to capture terrorists

 

[Care4all]

By all means Care - keep protecting the rights of terrorists and hand cuff the government to capture terrorists

They have incorporated it in to FISA with the FISA court, so now there is oversight, so it is legal, how is that handcuffing the government?

 

[red states rule]

They have incorporated it in to FISA with the FISA court, so now there is oversight, so it is legal, how is that handcuffing the government?

Care, the problem I have with people like you is you actually think the US can fight and WIN a PC war

This is a fght for our lifes - and you are more interested if the government protects the right of these bastards then stopping their attacks and putting them in jail

 

[Truthmatters]

Care is it possible that there is another Toby in the world?

This guy has to be his clone.

 

[red states rule]

Care is it possible that there is another Toby in the world?

This guy has to be his clone.

so you support terrorist rights as well

 

[Truthmatters]

I support truth something you have no use for.

 

[red states rule]

I support truth something you have no use for.

Truth as told to you by the DNC?

 

[Truthmatters]

How could the DNC tell me what the truth is?

You see I dont look to any one entity to tell me what the truth is ,I just gather the facts from as many sources as possible and then compare them and decern what the most likely consensus is.

You on the ohter hand just listen to ORiely and call it done.

 

[red states rule]

How could the DNC tell me what the truth is?

You see I dont look to any one entity to tell me what the truth is ,I just gather the facts from as many sources as possible and then compare them and decern what the most likely consensus is.

You on the ohter hand just listen to ORiely and call it done.

Please spell Bill's name right

I get my news from many sources as well

From what I have seen, the liberal meida slants the news to fit their agenda which is anti Bush 24/7

 

[Truthmatters]

You dont see much do you?

Sorry "O Liely"

BTW do you realise that Fox news watcher are less informed than other news watchers?

 

[Truthmatters]

Pew Survey Finds Most Knowledgeable Americans Watch 'Daily Show' and 'Colbert'-- and Visit Newspaper Sites

By E&P Staff

Published: April 15, 2007 11:30 PM ET

NEW YORK A new survey of 1,502 adults released Sunday by Pew Research Center for the People & the Press found that despite the mass appeal of the Internet and cable news since a previous poll in 1989, Americans' knowledge of national affairs has slipped a little. For example, only 69% know that Dick Cheney is vice president, while 74% could identify Dan Quayle in that post in 1989.

Other details are equally eye-opening. Pew judged the levels of knowledgeability (correct answers) among those surveyed and found that those who scored the highest were regular watchers of Comedy Central's The Daily Show and Colbert Report. They tied with regular readers of major newspapers in the top spot -- with 54% of them getting 2 out of 3 questions correct. Watchers of the Lehrer News Hour on PBS followed just behind.

Virtually bringing up the rear were regular watchers of Fox News. Only 1 in 3 could answer 2 out of 3 questions correctly. Fox topped only network morning show viewers.

Told that Shia was one group of Muslims struggling in Iraq, only 32% of the total sample could name "Sunni" as the other key group.

The percentage of those who knew their state's governor dropped to 2 in 3. Almost half know that Rep. Nancy Pelosi is Speaker of the House and 2 in 3 know that Condi Rice is secretary of state. But just 29% can identify Scooter Libby, 21% know Robert Gates and 15% can name Sen. Harry Reid.

But nearly 9 in 10 knew about President Bush's troop escalation in Iraq.

Men scored higher than women, and older Americans did better than younger, on average. Democrats and Republicans were about equally represented in the most knowledgeable group but there were more Democrats in the least aware group.

 

[red states rule]

now there are a couple of "quality" news sources - no wonder Dems won last Nov

 

[Truthmatters]

http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1067