JANUARY 2007

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Monday

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Saturday

1 NEW YEAR’S  DAY

(2006)  The Justice Department opens criminal investigation into the leak of classified information about secret NSA program under Pres. George W. Bush that authorized eavesdropping on people in the US without court warrants. 

2  (2005)  AP report reveals House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill) has conducted numerous corporate fundraisers tallying affairs at Walt Disney Resorts in Florida, the Ritz-Carlton (Hawaii), the Phoenician Resort  (AZ) & the Waterfall Resort (Alaska) along with accepting dozens of corporate jet flights & meals.

3  (1987) “…sometimes there are meetings over in the White House…and they make some decisions that the president signs off on…And the facts are that the Vice President is not in the decision making loop.” – VP George HW Bush disavows complicity in the Iran-Contra scandal.

4  (2006)  Tainted lobbyist Jack Abramoff pleads guilty to federal criminal charges & agrees to testify against members of Congress including Republican Reps. Tom DeLay (TX) & Robert Ney (Ohio). Coincidentally, House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill) decides to return $70,000 in Abramoff-related contributions.

5  (2005)  12 Republicans announce plans to return donations from convicted Washington “superlobbyist,” Jack Abramoff following his guilty plea to a second series of felony charges in as many days. Contrite Republicans include Pres. George W. Bush, Tom DeLay, Bill Frist, Roy Blunt & Eric Cantor.

 6  (2005)  “Get some devastation in the background.” – Sen. Majority Leader Bill First to a staff photographer while posing for a photo-op during visit to tsunami-devastated Sri Lanka.

7  (1989)  Just before Ronald Reagan leaves office, the White House computer is purged of data, which is backed-up to tape. Additionally, about two-dozen tapes mysteriously disappear. The missing information is believed to pertain to the Iran-Contra scandal.

8  (1992)  Pres. George Bush Sr. vomits in the lap of Japanese Prime Minister Miyazawa Kiichi and faints during a state function in Tokyo. The incident leads to the development of a Japanese slang word, “bushusuru” (bushing it) which refers to puking.

9  (2002)  U.S. Justice Dept. confirms reports it has begun a criminal investigation into Enron Corporation’s bankruptcy.

10  (2002) “I got to know Ken Lay when he was head of the – what they call the Governor’s Business Council in Texas. He was a supporter of Ann Richards in my run in 1994. And she had named him the head of the Governor’s Business Council. And I decided to leave him in place for the sake of continuity.”- Pres. George W. Bush trying to distance himself from his biggest political patron, Enron CEO Ken Lay.

11   (2005)  The Pentagon acknowledges Paul Bremer, the senior US official in Iraq during the first year of the war, told Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in May 2004 that a far greater number of troops would be needed to effectively fight the insurgency but that Bremer’s advice was rejected.                

12  (2004)  The Pentagon’s top auditor asks Defense Department’s inspector general to launch a formal investigation into Halliburton Co. after audit reveals “substantial overcharging” in $1.2 billion of Halliburton fuel sales to Iraq.

13  (2002)  Pres. George W. Bush loses consciousness briefly after choking on a cookie while watching a football game on TV.

14   (2004)   Andrew Fastow, former Enron finance chief, agrees to a 10-year prison sentence and to help prosecutors build a case against Enron's executive officers. His wife, former Enron assistant treasurer Lea Fastow (42), received a 5-month prison sentence.

15   MARTIN LUTHER         

       KING, JR. DAY

(2004) Pres. George W. Bush sidesteps Congress and installs Mississippi Judge Charles Pickering to the federal appeals court following a two-year battle filled with racial, religious and regional arguments.

16  (1992)  “You cannot be President of the United States if you don’t have faith. Remember Lincoln going to his knees in time of trial and the Civil War & all that stuff. You can’t be. So don’t feel sorry for – don’t cry for me Argentina.” - Pres. George HW Bush digressing into his best “Evita” impression.

17  (1986)  President Ronald Reagan signs a finding authorizing CIA participation in the sales of arms to Iran and ordering the proceeds kept secret from Congress.

18   (1997)  House Ethics Committee recommends Newt Gingrich face unprecedented reprimand and fine after concluding he violated congressional rules by using tax-deductible money for political purposes & providing inaccurate info to investigators.

19  (2001)  “The California crunch really is the result of not enough power-generating plants and then not enough power to power the power of generating plants.” – Pres. George W. Bush

20  (2001)  The inauguration of  Pres. George W. Bush is attended by Enron CEO Kenneth Lay and President Jeffery Skilling, both of whom make $100,000 contributions for the event.

21  (1987) “On the surface, selling arms to a country that sponsors terrorism, of course, clearly, you’d have to argue it’s wrong, but it’s the exception sometimes that proves the rule.” – VP George HW Bush justifies clandestine weapons shipments to Iran.

22  (2004)  Halliburton Company discloses two workers took large kickbacks as part of a $6.3 million overcharging scheme involving a Kuwaiti-based company.

23  (2001)  “I am mindful not only of preserving executive powers for myself, but for predecessors as well.”

– Pres. George W. Bush

24  (2004)  “…and while there’s nothing wrong with Fox News being a shill for the Bush administration, it does pose problems for our democracy particularly when the news is dumbed down.” – CNN founder, Ted Turner, bashes “Fair & Balanced” Fox News.

25  (1988) “It’s not fair to judge my whole career by a rehash on Iran. How would you like it if I judged your career by those 7 minutes when you walked off the set in New York? Would you like that? - VP George HW Bush complains to Dan Rather about the anchor’s Iran-Contra questions.

26  (1976)  “I walked in here 24 years ago untutored in the arts of intelligence.” - George HW Bush during ceremony at CIA headquarters as he begins 12 month stint as Director of Central Intelligence Agency.

27  (2003)  After earlier stating, “I don’t know him,” Pres. George W. Bush dismisses White House photos showing him with convicted Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff as an innocent “grip and grin encounter.”

28  (2003)  Pres. George W. Bush states, “The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from South Africa,” contradicting ambassador Joseph C. Wilson’s findings during a recent trip to Niger. Months later, the words would be retracted by the White House.

29 (2003) “The war on terror involves Saddam Hussein, because of the nature of Saddam Hussein, the history of Saddam Hussein and his willingness to terrorize himself.”

-Pres. George W. Bush

30  (1984)  “What we have found in this country, and maybe we’re more aware of it now, is one problem that we’ve had, even in the best of times, and that is the people who are sleeping on the grates, the homeless who are homeless, you might say, by choice.”

 – Pres. Ronald Reagan

31  (1973) Former Nixon aides G. Gordon Liddy and James W. McCord Jr. are convicted of conspiracy, burglary and wiretapping in the Watergate incident.

   FEBRUARY 2007

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

1  (2004)  Investigators find Halliburton overcharged more than $16 million for meals at a US based in Kuwait.

(2005)  Exxon Mobil releases statement that it posted a record $36 billion profit in 2004 but attempts to downplay the “great” news.

2  (1990)  “I’m not going to talk about what I did as a child.” – George W. Bush responds to question of whether he ever used marijuana or cocaine in the past.

3  (2004)  The total figure for Halliburton’s over billed meals rises to $36 million.

4  (2005)  “You work three jobs?…Uniquely American isn’t it? I mean that is fantastic that you’re doing that.” – Pres. George W. Bush to a divorced mother of 3 in Omaha, Nebraska.

5  (2003)   “Ladies and gentleman, these are not assertions. These are facts corroborated by many sources some of them sources of the intelligence services of other countries. – Sec. of State Colin Powell testifying before the UN Security Council on the current state of Iraq’s chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs.

6  (2001)  Enron is named “Most Innovative Company in America” by Fortune Magazine for the sixth consecutive year.

7  (2005)  Pres. George W. Bush sends Congress a $2.57 trillion budget for 2006 that calls for deep cuts in government expenditures – including farm subsidies, healthcare benefits for veterans and poor people and spending on education and the environment.

8   (1982)  “But I also happen to be someone who believes in tithing – the giving of a tenth to charity.” – Pres. Ronald Reagan

Note: Reagan’s total annual charitable contributions for the year reportedly amounted to $5,965 – closer to 1.4% of his income.    

9  (1982)  VP George HW Bush disclaims ever having used the term “voodoo economics” to refer to candidate Reagan’s budget plan and defies “anybody to find it.” Shortly thereafter NBC News airs footage of Bush saying exactly that at Carnegie-Mellon University on Apr. 10, 1980.

10  (1999)  TV preacher and Religious Right leader Jerry Falwell warns parents that “Tinky Winky” a character on the popular PBS children’s show “Teletubbies” may be gay.

11  (2005) VP Dick Cheney shoots and wounds his companion during quail hunting trip at a private TX ranch.

(2005)  Contradicting Pres. Bush’s claims he has never met him, lobbyist Jack Abramoff tells Washingtonian editor he has met with the President many times and was even invited to Bush’s ranch in 2003 for a special gathering of campaign donors.

12 LINCOLN’S 

       BIRTHDAY

(2002)   “As we know there are known knowns. There are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns. That is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns. The ones we don’t know we don’t know.” – Donald Rumsfeld clears up any confusion relating to US foreign policy in Iraq.

13  (2005)  White House acknowledges authenticity of 2001 photo of Pres. George W. Bush and embattled lobbyist Jack Abramoff after first declaring there was no record showing Abramoff attended the meeting of about two dozen state legislators.

14 VALENTINE'S DAY 

 (2004)  The international Red Cross submits a 24-page report describing prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib. The ICRC’s director states the report summarizes information first given to US authorities in 2003.

15  (1980)  “All the waste in a year from a nuclear power plant can be stored under a desk.” – Republican Presidential candidate Ronald Reagan.  Note: In reality, an average nuclear reactor generates some 30 tons of radioactive waste per year

16  (2005)  “I’m not going to give you a number for it because it’s not my job to do intelligent work.” – Sec. of Defense Donald Rumsfeld when asked by Congress to estimate the number of insurgents in Iraq.

17   (1987)  “At our meeting in Geneva, the US President said that if the Earth faced an invasion by extraterrestrials the United States & Soviet Union would join forces to repel such an invasion - Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev reveals Ronald Reagan’s often-visited preoccupation with space aliens.               

18  (2004)  Halliburton Co. agrees to withhold billing on an additional $140 million in food services.

19   PRESIDENT'S  DAY

20  (2001) “You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test.” – Pres. George W. Bush

21  (2001)  Kenneth Lay and other Enron Corp. execs go to White House to meet with the Dick Cheney energy task force.

22  (2005)  “This notion that the United States is getting ready to attack Iran is simply ridiculous. And having said that, all options are on the table.” – Pres. George W. Bush speaking in Brussels, Belgium.

23  (2001) “We both use Colgate toothpaste.” – Pres. George W. Bush responds to a reporter who asked what he and British Prime Minister Tony Blair have in common.

24  (2001)  “My plan reduces the national debt, and fast.  So fast, in fact, that economist’s worry that we’re going to run out of debt to retire.” – Pres. George W. Bush during radio address

25  (2005)  Bush administration states it will not reconsider its approval for United Arab Emirates company DP World’s takeover of security operations at 6 US ports despite the fact that at least 2 of the 9-11 hijackers came from the UAE and money supporting the terrorists was laundered there.

26  (2005)  “The fact that you are putting a company in place that could already be infiltrated by al-Qaeda is a silly thing to do.” – Mike Scheuer, who headed the CIA until 1999, comments on the Bush administration’s plans to turn over security of 6 major US ports to DP World, a company from the UAE which has a proven history of sponsoring terrorists. 

27  (2003)  “It’s hard to conceive that it would take more forces to provide stability in post-Saddam Iraq than it would take to conduct the war itself and to secure the surrender of Saddam’s security forces and his army. Hard to imagine.” – Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz testifying before the House Budget Committee prior to the Iraq war.

28  (2005)  US Army decides to reimburse a Halliburton subsidiary for nearly all its costs  on a disputed $2.41 billion no-bid contract to deliver fuel and repair oil equipment in Iraq, even thought the Pentagon’s own auditors identified more than $250 million in charges as potentially excessive or unjustified.

2007 Neo-Con Weasels Cal.