Impeachment Movement
The Supreme Court ruling yesterday that declared the Bush administration action n Guantanamo a violation of both the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the Geneva Conventions has now set the stage for the impeachment of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. At a meeting in Raleigh last night, I co-appeared with Al McSurley — a veteran civil rights attorney, who reads these tea leaves as well as anyone I know.
The ruling class is recongizing that the Bush administration has become an albatross, and this is a clear signal from the judiciary that appointed then in the first place that they have become a political liability. The repeated criticisms from Republican Arlen Specter are also an indication. The fear among Republicans that the Democrats might win the House and award the House Judiciary Committee to Representative John Conyers, who is openly calling for impeachment, is palpable. Many Republicans are already eyeing the lifeboats.
There will likely be a move to draft John McCain into the presidential contender slot as a way of disavowing the blackshirted edge given the Party’s image by the neocons.
In the interim, this is a window of opportunity that may open wider as more scandals come to the surface over the next four months.
Berkely, California is actualy hosting a referendum on impeachment, and other small cities have already passed resolutions.
What this means, in short-range tactical terms, is that there is now an opportunity to build a movement to turn the 2006 elections into a referendumon the entire Bush presidency… and this necessarily includes the war.
Those who know me, know that I am the last person out there to encourage tailing Democrats as a principle. But I am also opposed to the kind of ultra-leftism tbat cannot see tactical opportunities out of some presumed purity. There is a real possibility to build a very broad movement between now and November 8th that targets state capitol newspaper editorial boards (which local television and radio news inevitably follow) and uses its movement visibility to educate the public on the kinds of crimes that have been committed by the Bush adminstration.
The combination of anti-war forces generally and progressive Democrats, as well as women’s groups, African-American groups, and Hispano-Latina groups, have immense potential to break through this fissure and exploit it. Success in this would create the kind of oxygen bolus that was created for the period during and immediately after the Watergate hearings in 1973.
If we can make this happen, there is no doubt that the Democratic Leadership Council and others will try to conceal the systemic roots of our isues, but that is the next phase of this struggle… overcoming that. First, we need an impeachment movement. Be assured that the ruling class will not let this get to the point of an actual impeachment and conviction.
Newspaper editorial boards to cover actual crimes of the Bush administration.
Municipal referenda or resolutions for impeachment.
Massive public education.
The wall is weak here… PUSH!
Timothy R. Anderson:
Once in a while.
Hi there. Yes. Impeach the Cheney-Rumsfeld-Bush thingy and then get to work repairing the numerous things it has fouled up.
Today I am recommending a piece written by Joe W. Guthrie that can be found at http://www.amconmag.com , which is painfully clear about one thing : Iraqis , for the most part, have NOT been ‘ helped ‘ since March 19, 2003 . So, uh, there.
Timothy R. Anderson, War IS A Racket.
http://www.warisaracket.org
30 June 2006, 1:10 pmTimothy R. Anderson:
I feel the urge to highlight the eternal peril of Rumsfeldism . Maybe another time.
Let’s look at President Bush’s own words, from earlier this month , regarding Iraq ……. ”
I believe in supporting a strategy that will work . Not work for some immediate political situation , but WORK FOR THE GOOD of the Iraqi
people , and for ourselves and , equally import-
ant , help us win this war on terror . ”
To which I say : ” Uh, work ? Work for the good ?
Work for the good of the Iraqi people ?
Daaaaaaaaaaang, your deck is light, mister President man ! ! ! ”
War is a R A C K E T .
Timothy R. Anderson
http://www.warisaracket.org
30 June 2006, 3:05 pmlapetrov:
I *love* the graphic! Did you do that?
“Those who know me, know that I am the last person out there to encourage tailing Democrats as a principle. But I am also opposed to the kind of ultra-leftism tbat cannot see tactical opportunities out of some presumed purity.”
Please, tell me more. I don’t know you well and I know the ultra-left less. What purity? What contaminants are the worry? Más por favor.
30 June 2006, 5:26 pmRobin Hering:
An impeachment movement could be just the beginning, get a foot in the door, hold it open for a larger movement. Once you gain momentum bringing crimes into full relief, you don’t just stop when this particular bunch is in the dock, but keep up the chaos, bridging to the crimes of predecessors and peers. I think Clinton still has Bush beat on number of Iraqis killed. “Humanitarian bombing†and DU. He had NAFTA, Waco and Columbine, too.
Otherwise, I’m pretty much of the mind that Jr. simply got a job in Poppy’s company, is sort of a mascot, and that Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, et. al., ultimately work for Big Oil and the banks or, I guess, certain people at the tips of the pyramids. So, even if they’re removed to throw a bone to the dogs, a political sacrifice, someone will be lined up to backfill.
Maybe some CEOs aren’t happy with “poor performance†and for pulling the curtains off the works, exposing so much to public view.
They’re pretty serious about the Middle East, too. Peak oil was no mystery to anyone who knew anything, and whoever has control of petroleum, wins. Iraq is the new Texas, our 51st state.
I sure hope someone doesn’t dream up another 9-11, or a nuke “from Iran†going off, to get everybody back in line after that Supreme Court ruling on Thursday… In that case, it’s open season on “liberalsâ€. Hope an orderly transfer of power is planned, instead.
1 July 2006, 2:27 amskol:
Where’s this movement, though?
Yeah, there is a bunch of protesting, events with signs and hopeful, uninformed, and ultimately oblivious people who only came because liberal grievance sites told them it was happening. No driving influence either; after all, they just go back home and grieve a bit more. Nothing happening. Little honest anger. Nothing new learned. Liberals still want their latte.
That’s a SWEEPING generalization, partly because I don’t have much faith in the majority of beige Americans, and partly because I think it’s true. There are huge, awesome exceptions, but I don’t see any movement sweeping from the shadows suddenly (and lord knows, there’s little time) and restoring some sanity.
I mostly see a bunch of liberals/progressives who want a democrat in office. That, and it’s all good. The war may continue, but they won’t be doing anything, naively mistaking protest (in all it’s forms) as action against the policies of an administration, and not action against anything actually happening. They’ll have the hope they need. And they’ll be sipping their lattes at starbucks. The war will be in the hands of the democrats, and it’ll all be…better?
Sorry for all the cynicism… I don’t see much happening. Where the hell is the rage in this country? I may be entirely misinformed, but there is isn’t much time. Once I see that rage (true anger) in the mass media, I’ll be better convinced, and so will everyone else. The rage isn’t absent, it’s latent. It has to be. Everyone is just meandering around it, even while the shit is hitting the fan.
(heh. maybe I shouldn’t come here right after I wake up ;))
1 July 2006, 9:22 amSkol:
Hrm…
1 July 2006, 1:10 pmThink I had a freak-out. Sorry.
Linda Jansen:
I’m hesitant in that the vocal Dems were worse on the Iraqi gov’t’s proposed “amnesty” (Carl ‘No Habeas Corpus for Guantanamo’ Levin) (whether or not the amnesty was real) than the Republicans. Also Nancy Pelosi has apparently already made an offer to help Pres. Bush draft legislation to enable him to continue his GWOT despite the Supreme Court ruling. How can we avoid propping up these corporate war enablers when we harp on impeachment of one part of the duopoly? Now I’ll go back to my ultra-left corner.
1 July 2006, 6:15 pmLegume Sam:
Sounds good. Next stop: impeaching the President. Then, after that, impeaching the transnational capitalist class, the real rulers of the world.
If there were only a Constitutioal mechanism for that!
2 July 2006, 11:10 amJohn Eden:
Yes, this is an opening. It may be our final one. I’m in a pretty cynical state myself recently.
I often feel that the political situation in this country is beyond hope. The mainstream media are certainly lost as an avenue of information leading to change of heart, as this Media Matters post http://mediamatters.org/items/200605260016
makes clear (thanks to Jessica Wilson for the link). The threat to the internet as a vehicle for other, alternative sources mounts, and despite the heavy hitters lining up to defend it, it seems clear that sooner or later, we will see some limits on effective use of this medium for the rest of us.
That’s usually the first step in despotic takeover - shut down all avenues of dissent. As an Iraq attack veteran was pointing out recently, street protest and similar movement activity against the war has become nearly pointless, since the administration has declared itself to be above the law and immune to the will of the people. They literally don’t care what the people think or want. Obviously, they lost the last two political elections, but maintained control anyway, so why should they care? They control the process to an extent that leaves them impervious to the will of the majority, and they control the media to an extent that makes it possible to maintain the illusion of democratic form and conceal the reality of control from most people.
We have passed the point that I expected to result in some real change, some real action against the administration. Enough serious, established people have spoken out and revealed the truth of the Emperor’s new clothes. The June 25 statement by Ann Wright, for example. Fitzgerald’s statement from my last post should have begun the unraveling of the Bush/Cheney robes. Something big, serious and radical should have happened by now. It hasn’t. The PNAC has closed up shop, mission accomplished. The right wing has consolidated control to the point where they no longer even pretend to be concerned about the majority consensus.
I am now in transition to survival mode. Open resistance is futile. We must go underground and get safe, establish secure communications, and then procede to plan for the survival of true human values, progressive ideals, and alternative modes of existence.
If we wait for the crunch, much will be lost. We have a year, maybe two, to get it together and be ready the loss of much of our present freedom to communicate without fear of retribution. We need to make the most of it.
In this transition, we must begin building ways to protect our sanity and shore up our internal resources. We may need to begin memorizing important texts, as in Fahrenheit 451. We certainly need to establish networks of social, spiritual and economic support independent of institutions and technology.
I don’t have much in the way of practical solutions for the problems this poses, and of course, I hope I’m wrong about its necessity. But I think it bears consideration. What if we knew that freedom of speech and communication, mobility, and exchange would be shut down as of some date, say January 2009? What would we do now?
I think it’s time we began to think of those possibilities, began to make contingency plans based on that worst-case scenario.
Politically, organizationally, the progressive movement in the US is about as naive and unprepared, as in denial, as the society as a whole is about global warming. We just keep thinking, ‘it can’t happen in America’ and pretending that we will be able to go on being the vocal opposition and that somehow that will change things. The realities don’t seem to be tending that way.
As long as we do nothing, they’re happy to let us rock along preaching to ourselves. As soon as we take any kind of action that really threatens corporate domination, we will become “terrorists” and dealt with in summary fashion. Like the seven guys in Miami.
As Glen Ford and Peter Gamble, writing in Black Commentator last week, said, “We are targeted.” That we includes anyone who seriously becomes a threat to the mind-numbing control that the system currently has over this society.
So either we maintain our “harmless” ineffectiveness or we go underground. Seriously underground. It’s transition time.
2 July 2006, 5:08 pmStan:
DABDA
Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance
These are the alleged stages in the acceptance of one’s imminent mortality. They also seem to be stages in political development.
Let me qualify that. What we must accept is that we will continue to struggle for a new future, that it is the debt of life we pay to our grandchildren. We continue to struggle in every way within our capacity to do what we must, with not the slightest guarantee of success. And we NEVER for one moment make a grant to those we oppose of either our despair or fear.
There are not nearly as smart or as powerful as they would have us believe.
“The greatest weapon in the hand of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.” -Steve Biko
Retreat when necessary… rest, recupe, then return.
If we are targets, then so are they. They are targeted.
There is a strategic goal already at hand. But we have to do the footwork to get there. It’s called a general strike. We can shut them down by doing… nothing.
Now how do we get there from here?
2 July 2006, 7:02 pmSkol:
Consolide the masses, obviously. Sorry for such a stupid cliche, but it’s a good bullet point anyway. I mean, high these days. That’s been veeery effective. Hell, even this site is a candidate for government-whatever (not one I take seriously, mind you, but still one I have to get over). I think a lot of people are just plain scared. I may not have much faith in the majority of Americans right now, but once things hit a critical point, I’m many of them would be willing to volunteer their efforts. Right now, there isn’t any really identifiable mass to chameleon into.
2 July 2006, 8:30 pmMy belief is that things will start to take hold once the mass-media is practically forced to report on whatever the movement(s) have to give them.
Well, that’s my “jumble of the obvious”. Makes me think on the specifics, though.
Skol:
Egads. Somehow, huge swaths of that post was deleted. Okay okay: “bullet point anyway”…not much of a rhetorical platform for a strike, at least not one that’s significantly higher than the others. Then I brought up Sheehan and her character assassination from the press, including Jon Stewart. So I figured it was Stewart, or Viacom, or both, behind that. Which brought me to paranoia, which is “high these days”.
That, or my post is absolutely fine and my browser is acting weird, or the way this blog operates is giving it temporary problems.
2 July 2006, 8:36 pmSkol:
Consolide the masses, obviously. Sorry for such a stupid cliche, but it’s a good bullet point anyway. I mean, less than 1% (1% of 1%, perhaps) of the population doesn’t make for much of a strike.
Concerning which, there really isn’t much rhetoric for such a thing currently. No central platform, at least not one that’s significantly raised above the others. There was Sheehan, but her character was so effectively assassinated on so many sides. I remember Jon Stewart taking shots at her, fercrissakes, like she was just this irritating presence (i.e., a gadfly. To Stewart? To Viacom? Both?). Her significance is only inside the movement.
Which reminds me: Paranoia is running high these days. That’s been veeery effective. Hell, even this site is a candidate for government-whatever (not one I take seriously, mind you, but still one I have to get over). I think a lot of people are just plain scared. I may not have much faith in the majority of Americans right now, but once things hit a critical point, I’m many of them would be willing to volunteer their efforts. Right now, there isn’t any really identifiable mass to chameleon into.
My belief is that things will start to take hold once the mass-media is practically forced to report on whatever the movement(s) have to give them.
Well, that’s my “jumble of the obvious”. Makes me think on the specifics, though.
(Sorry for comment spamming, there was a less-than-symbol which the parser didn’t delineate until the less-than-slash-”i”-greater-than HTML)
2 July 2006, 8:39 pmRobin Hering:
You hear more these days the reminder that those in the Warsaw ghetto who rebelled had a greater chance of survival than those who didn’t.
Even though not enough know or understand the lessons of Nazi Germany, studies show that it only takes one voice in a crowd to change the behavior of that crowd, because most in that crowd are already thinking what the one voice articulates. As in, “Let him among you who is without sin cast the first stone.â€
Thinking over and over about relocalization – a sort of planned, long-term general strike – I always remember that even if you establish a peaceful community locally, you can easily be colonized, dislocated. But the one thing proponents of globalization have never understood, why they wonder what all the fuss is about, is the misery of dislocation. They’ve dislocated too many too fast, there’s been no time to adjust…
Global warming is on your side. Get to the people first, and remember the lesson of the doubling of the lily pads. Critical mass. Tipping point.
3 July 2006, 1:48 amStan:
I moderated in Linda Jansen’s comment, but don;t see it yet. Hopefully, the cybergods will correct.
Oops, found it, at “Neoliberalism”:
“Having read the last paragraph first, I think that universal healthcare is a much better goal than a Bush impeachment. Healthcare for all really could unite people and show us how to win a campaign. Who would be against it? Whereas impeachment has built-in problems, in that it is a half-step masquerading as a solution. What will we have gained if we get rid of one of the corporate puppeteers (or in the case of Bush, puppets)?
“As a side note, I had another idea about healthcare. Why doesn’t everyone who has health insurance just stop paying for it in solidarity with the people who do not have it? There’d have to be a movement so it could be done all at once, but maybe we could bankrupt the insurance companies and force the government to go to single-payer.”
-LJ
On impeachment vs health care, this is not a mutually exclusive proposition, but there are differences of quality and the temoporal character of these two proposals. In the theater of the mind, there is much magic possible, and that is why schemas always work there and never come to fruition in the world.
The impeachment possibility is a window of opportunity in which — for reasons that have a limited half-life — sections of the ruling class will see an advantage, at least an emergency advantage, in this kind of retrenchment. And while the public cares about health care, there is no mobilized and pre-organized anger to fuel such a campaign (the differnce between tactic, campaign, and strategy are vitaslly important here).
There are always questions of capacity at hand. Without an organized, mobilized movement for socialized health care, and with solidly cohered “enemy forces” (insurance, big pharm, HMOs, et al), we are David against Goliath, only we don’t have a sling. That army is not built yet.
The line articulated above is the standard Democratic Party line that angles to ensure that social movements don’t get off the reservation. Don’t say impeachment or the Republicans will use it against us… Don’t rock that boat, because we are in it. Don’t force us to start issuing subpeonas, because they cut both ways. (Not yours Linda, the other guy)
The antiwar movement is built, does have organization, and does have the capacity to reach significant numbers of people at a time when the ruling class itself is debating about whether to ride out the bad poll numbers until 2008 or cut their losses.
Material conditions!!! are dynamic and non-linear.
3 July 2006, 8:31 amTimothy R. Anderson:
Home page. Right side of screen.
Hi there. Zipping around was I ….. and , even though this is not my typical destination I WENT TO
http://www.foxnews.com today. And ….. lo and behold,
there’s an ad, similar to one that gets published in the touchable USA Today newspaper, that advises
the viewer to invest in Iraq. Something about
” because investing breeds success and success
is prosperity ” or some such .
Interested ? I really cannot begin to imagine
what the poster’s at http://www.feralscholar.org/blog might
think of this financial ” offer ” !
Timothy R. Anderson
Tuesday July 03 , ‘06
War I s a Racket. http://www.warisaracket.org
3 July 2006, 5:41 pmComandante Gringo:
Taking advantage of the very real impeachment of a sociopathic Republican president and his vicious neocon régime would indeed be a superb ‘found opportunity’ for the Left. So by all means — take this tactical gift presented, when & if it comes. It won’t be any trojan horse offered up by Beltway geex. However, the problem with following this line is: it fundamentally relies on establishing a Democratic Party-controlled Congress for this to happen. And it’s definitely NOT _our_ job to aid in _that_ project.
We don’t want to support the Democrats whatsoever do we, now? Ever again. Not even tactically. Yet we are here hoping that there will be enuff of them elected, coming out of the 2006-11 elections, to realize that tactical goal. And so there is a *contradiction* confronting us here, in other words.
What _we_ have to be aiming for instead, always, is that *mass, general strike* which turns into real *social revolution* at some point — and which will likely be our only, last hope for an almost blood-free transformation of the world capitalist order into a socialist one. Otherwise the blood WILL certainly be flowing like a river, even more than now. At least there a 6.000.000.000+ people on the planet…
4 July 2006, 12:00 amComandante Gringo:
There appears to be something wrong with this software. it also cut off half of what I posted. Most important half too.
4 July 2006, 12:06 am:/
Comandante Gringo:
You really need a preview feature to this thing.
4 July 2006, 12:08 amRobin Hering:
How do we get there from here?
Polls show the majority favors impeachment if the president lied about the war.
Dems have no excuse, even with candidates running in at-risk districts. But the DLC has to preserve its commitments to the status quo and act as a shock absorber for the Left.
The DLC wants to run on a platform representing themselves as uniters.
But I think Congress – even certain Republicans - will act if they have support from their respective constituencies…
So, here’s my first try:
Initially work with the handful on the Left who know how strategic an impeachment campaign is. They work with others on the Left who aren’t convinced. Get their commitment of time and focus for the duration.
The awm is diverse, but organized and fertile ground for education and particular memes. Get the Left to start mobilizing there. Expand in concentric circles outward.
Encourage the awm to push on popular alt media to take the stand and start their own education process and campiagn. Popular alt media won’t want to, because they believe 2006 elections is a toehold on a brighter future and won’t want to rock the boat. (And still in denial about 1.) the strategic imperative of the Persian Gulf and 2.) how critical impeachment is to improving U.S. image.) Some say that if Dems could get back control, subpoenas would flow. I say, for what? A two-year circus 2007-2008? Then pardons… bau. Demand for impeachment NOW leapfrogs the whole works, puts control back with citizens and in the process citizens learn the mechanisms for taking control of their democracy.
Meanwhile, behind the scenes, develop an effective campaign. Like ALL alt media should have basically the same Impeach banner on their sites. And then the usual but in particular getting everyday people to actually do or say something. Because it’s not an election, you don’t have to play by any rules, either.
NYT best-seller business paperback: The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell ($14.95) How and why certain products and ideas become fads.
4 July 2006, 3:07 pmMark:
Stan: “…there is now an opportunity to build a movement to turn the 2006 elections into a referendumon the entire Bush presidency… and this necessarily includes the war.”
My impression was that this was the general concept behind the ABB movement in 2004. It doesn’t seem to have been a very effective strategy, and I fail to see how 2006 is significantly different.
Robin: “Polls show the majority favors impeachment if the president lied about the war.”
I hear this mentioned a lot but a lot of reality is held in that IF. Specifically, the Zogby poll that most people cite (Oct-Nov ‘05) asked “If President Bush did not tell the truth about his reasons for going to war with Iraq, Congress should consider holding him accountable through impeachment.” To which 53% of respondents said yes (76% of Democrats, 50% of Independents, and 29% of Republicans)
Now the biggest problem with that ‘if’ just as in the ‘ifs’ surrounding questions about wiretapping is whether or not you can convince the American people that the president lied and/or did something blatantly illegal. My sense is that the sort of personal investment of national pride in the office kicks in a filter that disallows most people from ever accepting that if as a reality, no matter what evidence you present them with. Among Republicans in that poll I’d be willing to bet those who accept the premise is well under five percent.
If you look at polls that ask the question more directly you get something between 32% (Rasmussen, Dec ‘05) and 42% (ARG, March ‘06).
I’m not trying to rain on anyone’s parade, but I think we need to be very realistic about how much support for actually impeaching the president there is out there.
As far as the Democratic Party’s relationship with the left (and I’m using that word in the broadest term), by and large I don’t think they feel any need to appease us in any way. For example, here in my state the most powerful Democrat congresscritter is more hawkish than even most Republicans and will coast to another reelection, and the Democrat they have chosen to run for the senate against a supposedly vulnerable Republican has taken positions most important issues, including the war and civil liberties, that are indistinguishable from the Republican party line. With all of this, most left-of-center people I’ve spoken to will STILL vote for both of these heinous creatures. The Democrats long ago locked up the liberal/progressive/leftist vote and as long as they know that there is zero incentive to do anything but angle for votes from the center-right.
5 July 2006, 12:27 pmLinda Jansen:
Having talked this over with a few activist friends, I’m afraid that Mark is right. People were on fire for impeachment up to and especially after the invasion happened. Then the Dems electionioneering began and people started trying to support troops fighting a war no one wanted. Right now, we’re in the midst of supporting war resisters stationed at Ft. Lewis (Benderman, Watada, Swift). That seems like the correct priority. The American people are under occupation by a corporate government and the war resisters are the ones at the cutting edge of that struggle right now. Our strength is with unambiguous support of resistance; impeachment is too much like lending aid to the Dems who have absolutely abbrogated their responsibilities in that direction.
5 July 2006, 10:38 pmRobin Hering:
Mark: You’re right. The polls mean nothing and we don’t have all the facts.. But anyone with any sense is watching events unfold with horror, and that includes Congress and conservative Republicans who have integrity, relatively speaking. The difficulty is that particular members of Congress on both sides of the aisle can do nothing without the support of the people. Now would be a good time to give them that support. The press, too.
I think there’s plenty of support in the margins to get the ball rolling.
In fact, I’d add to my suggestion above: Initiate also with conservatives, citizens in the professions and so forth. That gets out ahead of Dems on the centrist vote, forces the issue. And challenges Republicans for a come-back. Meanwhile, keep working uncertain citizen Democrats and those who don’t follow Alt media and so forth.
As a tangential comment, I think “can’t until Dems have control of Congress†is wishful thinking.
6 July 2006, 12:37 amRobin Hering:
Linda, good to prioritize in terms of our personal energy and associates’ activities and energy, but could this fit into your top five or top ten activities?
“In attempting to fix any system, we may damage another that is working perfectly well.†(Just read more Holmgren last night and found this.) All the opposites of this apply, too. Chaos works. Wouldn’t you like to unfix a system that is working perfectly well? Chisel and tap a little here, watch what happens over there.
Checking the internet today, I found all sorts of impeachment activity going on across the country, with great results. More horn honking and thumbs up than rude comments. Also on the internet, the arguments in general say a call for impeachment is more likely to affect Dems adversely than help out.
Randi Rhodes is going on and on about the Wayne Madsen, Mayfair Hotel story, which if it’s true - or even if it’s not - would pre-empt impeachment for the real crimes. Nine out of ten foreign policy people say the Neo-Con muscle-flexing exercise has been tragic and so maybe someone wants to take this administration out in a way that avoids the risk of a public microscope swinging over to look at the history of U.S. foreign policy. They understand the risk of exactly what Stan’s taking about.
7 July 2006, 12:04 amStan:
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-secret10jul10,0,1417742.story?coll=la-headlines-politics
10 July 2006, 8:01 am