Too funny. From a deposition of Neil Bush in which he is grilled about his extramarital affairs by the attorney for his former wife Sharon--from New York Daily News :

Bush: "I had sexual intercourse with perhaps three or four, I don't remember the exact number, women, at different times. In Thailand once, I have a pretty clear recollection that there was one time in Thailand and in Hong Kong."

Brown: "And you were married to Mrs. Bush?"

Bush: "Yes."

Brown: "Is that where you caught the venereal diseases?"

Bush: "No."

Brown: "Where did you catch those?"

Bush: "Diseases plural? I didn't catch..."

Brown: "Well, I'm sorry. How ... how many venereal diseases do you suffer from?"

Bush: "I've had one venereal disease."

Brown: "Which was?"

Bush: "Herpes."

Brown then interrogates Bush's about his various sex partners:

"Did you pay them for that sex?"

Bush: "No, I did not."

Brown: "Pick them up in a sushi house?"

Bush: "No. ... My recollection is, where I can recall, they came to my room."

Brown: "Do you know the name of that hotel? I may go to Thailand sometime."

Liberal Oasis compares the press on US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, now in charge of the Valerie Plame investigation, to the press on Ken Starr, when he was first appointed independent counsel for Whitewater in 1994.

Here's how our President began the New Year:

President Bush shot quail on a hunting trip Thursday but ate beef, and encouraged Americans to do the same despite concern over mad cow disease.

"I think I shot 5," Bush told reporters at Brooks County Airport after returning from the hunt with his father on a dusty and desolate stretch of land in southern Texas.

Ridiculous Congressional comment of the day comes from Tom Tancredo (R-CO) from an interview in a conservative publication:

I talked to a man who headed up a gang unit out of Los Angeles. He told me that there were five cities -- Compton, California, near Los Angeles, was one -- that were completely taken over by the Mexican Mafia. He said they had taken over the city council, the mayor’s office, the police chief…it has become simply another place for illegal drug activity in an institutionalized fashion. He said they couldn’t bust anybody in town. They can't talk to the police in these towns.

LAPD Chief Bill Bratton must be laughing out loud.

More from Tancredo--he's against legal immigration too.

So what we are seeing is a phenomenon that is really disturbing and it’s all about numbers. People talk about illegal immigration being a problem. It’s not just illegal immigration: it is immigration both legal and illegal, on a massive scale.

[link via Walter in Denver]

If the economy is improving, then why are 17,000 kids homeless in New York?

In a booming holiday season, the nation's most populous city reported Saturday that almost 17,000 homeless children and their parents live in city shelters -- twice as many families as in the 1990s.

On the other coast, we're glad to learn that Gavin Newsom, the newly elected San Francisco mayor, has declared his top priority will be solving the city's homelessness problem:

...his first moves will include creating a 10-year plan for ending chronic homelessness and going after "tens of millions" of new dollars in federal funding....In an interview with The Chronicle, Newsom said he also plans to create within six months about 550 units of new "supportive housing" for troubled homeless people.

The centerpiece of any plan, he said, will be creating more supportive housing, which gives the homeless a room to live in with counseling services in the same building to address the drug, alcohol or mental health problems that often put them on the street.

Former Gen. Wesley Clark will be a prosecution witness at the Milosevic War Crimes Trial Monday and Tuesday.

The Bush Administration is demanding that it be allowed to review videotapes of his testimony before they are released to the public.

Closed sessions are routinely held at the United Nations tribunal that deals with Balkan war crimes, but usually to protect witnesses's safety. The conditions of General Clark's appearance are new.

The court agreed to give the United States government 48 hours to review the testimony and to ask judges to suppress any it regards as sensitive. Two government lawyers will accompany the general.

Milosevic is acting as his own lawyer and will cross-examine Clark:

Prosecutors want to know how much Mr. Milosevic knew — or could have known — about crimes committed by members of the Bosnian Serb military who were on Belgrade's payroll and by Serbian police officers and other forces directly under his command.

General Clark faces direct cross-examination by Mr. Milosevic, who conducts his own defense and usually demands as much time to question a witness as the prosecution. Frequently, he is given more time.

You can watch videos of the trial here. Transcripts are here. Case details are here.

This may have long been rumored, but it's the first we've heard of it:

A 78-year-old retired schoolteacher is coming forward after years of silence to claim she is the illegitimate mixed-race daughter of the late Sen. Strom Thurmond, her attorney said Saturday.

..."We're not trying to upset the Thurmond estate. We are merely bringing closure to Essie Mae's life, so her children have an opportunity to know from where they come, whether those ancestors are black or white matters not. It is part of our American history."

Williams told The Washington Post that Thurmond privately acknowledged her as his daughter and had provided financial support since 1941. The Post first reported her claims on its Web site Saturday.

Thurmond, "an arch segregationist," died in June at age 100. This, is classic:

Williams claims Thurmond fathered her long before his political career started, when he was a 22-year-old living in his parents' home in Edgefield, S.C. Her mother, then 16, had been working as a maid in the Thurmonds' home.

Ms. Williams met Thurmond for the first time around 1941:

Williams told the Post she first met Thurmond around 1941, when she returned to Edgefield for a visit at age 16. Her mother was suffering from an untreatable kidney disease and insisted on introducing her to her father, Williams said. In a meeting lasting 20 to 30 minutes, Williams said, Thurmond called her a "very lovely daughter."

"I was very happy. I knew I had a father somewhere, and it was wonderful to meet him."

Update: Strom Thurmond's family acknowledges Ms. Williams is the Senator's daughter.

[comments now closed]

By T Chris

A recent investigation concludes that the Bush administration's "efforts to shield the actions of, and the information held by, the executive branch are far more extensive than has been previously documented." And while the administration's emphasis on fighting terrorism might partially explain this devotion to governmental secrecy, the report concludes that the administration's efforts extend "well beyond security issues."

A five-month investigation by U.S. News details a series of initiatives by administration officials to effectively place large amounts of information out of the reach of ordinary citizens, including data on such issues as drinking-water quality and automotive tire safety. The magazine's inquiry is based on a detailed review of government reports and regulations, of federal agency Web sites, and of legislation pressed by the White House.

The report finds that the administration is:

• withholding information about product safety, including information about auto and tire safety issues that manufacturers are mandated to report to the government;

• withholding information about public health, including water quality, toxic hazards, and transportation safety issues;

• seeking to restrict public access to civil and criminal court proceedings; and

• thwarting the ability of Congress to provide effective oversight.

A democracy operates best when the public has access to the information it needs to make informed decisions about the job performance of elected and appointed officials. The Bush administration is making a concertedly undemocratic effort to evade public scrutiny of its actions and policies.

This is an important story. Kudos to U.S. News for reporting it and to PBS for producing an episode of NOW With Bill Moyers based on the U.S. News investigation.

Former Illinois Senator Paul Simon has died. He was 75.

Sen. Simon went into the hospital Thursday for a single bypass operation and died yesterday after the surgery. Right before he went into the hospital, he had been scheduled to endorse Howard Dean. Due to shortness of breath, he couldn't make the appearance and instead went into the hospital. Once there he called reporters and made the endorsement from his hospital bed.

Sen. Simon was a long-time death penalty opponent and served as Co-chair of the Illinois commission appointed by Gov. George Ryan to look into the state's capital punishment system.

Simon... said that the commission is likely to be unable to give Gov. Ryan an "iron-clad guarantee" that, even with extensive legal reforms, no innocent person would be convicted of a capital crime. He has said that it is possible that the commission will conclude that there is no way to salvage the death penalty.

R.I.P.

Update: Drug War Rant has a long quote from a 1996 article Sen. Simon co-wrote with Dave Koppel for National Law Journal on the Drug War. Here's a snippet, but go over and read the whole thing:

Excerpted from Things You Have to Believe to Be a Republican Today:

• Being a drug addict is a moral failing and a crime, unless you’re a conservative radio host. Then it’s an illness and you need our prayers for your recovery.

• Government should relax regulation of Big Business and Big Money but crack down on individuals who use marijuana to relieve the pain of illness.

• The best way to improve military morale is to praise the troops in speeches while slashing veterans’ benefits and combat pay.

• A good way to fight terrorism is to belittle our long-time allies, then demand their cooperation and money.

• Providing health care to all Iraqis is sound policy. Providing health care to all Americans is socialism.

• Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him, a bad guy when Bush’s daddy made war on him, a good guy when Cheney did business with him and a bad guy when Bush needed a “we can’t find Bin Laden” diversion.

• Trade with Cuba is wrong because the country is communist, but trade with China and Vietnam is vital to a spirit of international harmony.

Mother Jones provides Home Truths: There are 3.5 million homeless in America. At least 750,000 of them will spend Thanksgiving night on the street.

Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) has placed one of his staffers on leave for accessing Democratic files.

"I was shocked to learn that this may have occurred," Hatch said in a statement. "I am mortified that this improper, unethical and simply unacceptable breach of confidential files may have occurred on my watch."