AMERICANS BOOT PRESIDENT BUSH OUT OF THE WHITE HOUSE
http://www.shoebush.org

WHEN: Monday, January 19th at 11:00 a.m. ET
WHERE: Rally begins at DuPont Circle, followed by a march to the White House with shoes and combat boots

On President Bush's last day in office, people will gather at DuPont Circle in Washington, D.C., for an event entitled "Shoes for Bush." The rally will feature David Swanson, the author of the forthcoming book "Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union." He is also the creator of the progressive blog After Downing Street www.afterdowningstreet.org. Other speakers include Iraq veteran Adam Kokesh, who is a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War www.ivaw.org and Debra Sweet, anti-war leader and director of the organization World Can't Wait www.worldcantwait.org.

When conservative journalists asked Dick Cheney whether he asked George Bush to pardon his former top aide, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Cheney dodged the question, saying

“the question of a pardon really falls in the President’s purview and his alone” – but emphatically pronounced himself a “huge fan of Scooter’s. He’s an extraordinarily able individual.” 

Obviously Cheney did ask Bush to pardon Scooter, just as he asked Bush to commute his sentence before he went to jail. Cheney just doesn't want to admit his request, because he's committing obstruction of justice by encouraging Libby to lie to Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald about Cheney's role in outing Valerie Plame.

Nadler Renews Bill for Investigation and Prosecution
http://www.democrats.com/nadler-renews-bill-for-investigation-and-prosecution

Buttar: Prosecute Cheney and Bush for War Crimes and Treason
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shahid-buttar/could-gitmo-get-worse-the_b_155175.html

Greenwald: The Village Protects Lawbreakers and Destroys Whistleblowers
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/01/07/tamm/index.html

Smith: Wall Street Journal Demands Panetta Protect Torturers - Or Else
http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/07/warning-off-panetta-whose-water-is-the-wsj-carrying/

Remember all those sweet post-election promises of bipartisanship?

Barack Obama has certainly led the way. He could have filled his Cabinet with "aggressive progressives," but instead chose moderates like Treasury Secretary Tom Geithner and kept Republican Robert Gates in the most powerful job of all, Secretary of Defense.

Obama could also have demanded passage of a "share the wealth" stimulus bill, but instead reached out to Republicans with business-friendly tax cuts.

So Obama has done his share. What about the Republicans?

A good place for Republicans to start would be by telling Norm Coleman to drop his futile lawsuits and by agreeing to seat Al Franken immediately if he doesn't.

Isn't bipartisanship a two-way street?

CQ has the scoop:

Liberals Relish New Clout as Session Starts
By Alan K. Ota, CQ Staff

You gotta love that headline, right? 

The Democratic Party's liberal wing will begin a hard push this week to consolidate power in the House and advance its agenda with a quiet assist from a longtime champion, Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Leaders of the Democrats' liberal faction, such as House Appropriations Chairman David R. Obey of Wisconsin, scored an early victory when Pelosi agreed to a change in House rules that will solidify their clout.

Opponents of the continued US occupation of Iraq have two surprising new allies: John "War of Aggression" Bolton and John "Torture" Yoo. In a NY Times op ed entitled "Restore the Senate’s Treaty Power," they write:

Like past presidents, Mr. Obama will likely be tempted to avoid the requirement that treaties must be approved by two-thirds of the Senate. The usual methods around this constitutional constraint are executive agreements...

Wouldn't ya know the Iraq Withdrawal Agreement is one of those despicable, Constitution-evading executive agreements! Bush signed the deal with Nouri al Maliki but refuses to submit it to the Senate for ratification. Paging Bolton-Yoo!

On November 20, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) introduced H.Res. 1531 to hold George Bush and his administration accountable for their crimes through a Congressional investigation and a Special Prosecutor. We sent over 57,000 petition signatures to Congress and persuaded 9 House Democrats to co-sponsor. With the start of the new Congress, Rep. Nadler has re-introduced his resolution with a new number, H.Res. 9.

Josh Marshall is covering opposition to Obama's choice of Leon Panetta to head the CIA, both from within the CIA and from the outgoing and incoming Democratic chairs of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Jay Rockefeller and Dianne Feinstein. What is this all about?

By David Swanson

How did a Democratic challenger defeat a Republican incumbent in an enormous rural district in southern Virginia? A Democratic group in Charlottesville called Left of Center organized a forum on that topic Monday night. Speakers included three staffers on Tom Perriello's victorious campaign: Brian Bills, his personal assistant; Kelli Palmer, who registered African American voters in the southern most part of Virginia's Fifth District; and Rachel Klarman, lead field organizer for the southern counties. Also speaking were two newspaper reporters, Will Goldsmith of the C'ville Weekly and Lindsay Barnes of the Hook. And providing some historical context was Fred Hudson, chair of the Fifth District Democratic Committee.

Obama's selection of Leon Panetta to head the CIA is welcome news. Panetta was a respected California congressman who headed the Office of Management and Budget under President Clinton. Atrios found this important op ed written by Panetta last March:

Barack Obama today chose Indiana U. Law Professor Dawn Johnsen to head the Office of Legal Counsel. This once-obscure job, which advises the President how to interpret the Law, became infamous under John Yoo, who advised the President that he could torture, wiretap, and defy Congress with impunity.