WASHINGTON, DC-Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-Springfield) today issued the following statement in response to the White House's official denial of access to classified annexes to National Security Presidential Directive-20 (NSPD-20).  NSPD-20 lays out the government's plan for continuity of the Federal government in the aftermath of a catastrophic national emergency. 

"If the Administration has a plan for the continuity of government, they should share it with the Congress.  We are a co-equal branch of the government charged with oversight responsibilities for the execution of laws and expenditure of federal funds.  Lacking any other information, I can only assume that this denial means one of three things:

1) There is no plan.  There are other instances where the Administration failed to meet deadlines for developing emergency plans;

2)  They have a plan but it over-reaches and is either extra-constitutional or unconstitutional;

3)  This is another example of the obsessively secretive Administration that refuses to share information with a co-equal branch of the government. 

Should it go without saying that the current Congress is Democratic?  The Democrats have the majority, control the agenda, and chair and hold a majority on every committee.  But does that make the Congress Democratic?

Liberal commentators averse to criticizing Speaker Nancy Pelosi have begun flailing around for a reasonable explanation for the behavior of her Congress.  Matt Stoller has latched onto the idea that, even though there are more Democrats in the House than Republicans, the Republicans secretly have a majority.  This is an appealing proposition, since all of us on the left view the Republicans as worse than the Democrats.  We'd like to be able to blame them for everything, not just most things.  And, as an added bonus, this theory transports us into the enjoyable realm so often inhabited by those on the right, the realm of thoughtless belief in utter nonsense.

Stoller's argument is basically that the conservative, or "blue dog" Democrats insist on voting with the Republicans.  True enough.  But that's not the whole story.  Stoller also acknowledges in passing a couple of other problems:

When W builds his library,
I have a plan,
an old-fashioned 3-holer,
an outhouse set in quicksand.
A throne for Bush,one for Cheney,
one hole left for friend or dignitary.
Could be Powell,Bolton or Scooter,
letting Rice sit in would be a hooter.
Ashcroft,Rumsfeld,Brown and Blair,
all could visit,leave input there.

Wolfowitz,Perle,Kristol,Neocons
of "Progress For a New American
Century",
could send their bloodsoaked
regards from Hell or world
penitentiary.
Perle introduced Bush to Chalabi,
felon and presidential wannabe.
They planned a "new world order",
plagiarized from works by Hitler,
which destroyed America's image,
made us all look littler.
Guantanamo could send barbed wire.
Guards are from Abu Graub's lasting fire.

Matalin,Hughes,Gonzales,DeLay
remember Enron and "Kenny Boy" Lay.
Karl Rove,Scalia,and James Baker
share the hole as the royal king maker.
Big oil dug it deep.
Haliburton spread it wide.
Bush built his legacy
cronies and criminals by his side.

Aerial gunners have killed over 600 wolves in Alaska since 2003, and now Governor Sarah Palin wants to offer $150 bounties to encourage hunters to kill more wolves. Even worse, Idaho and Wyoming have proposed aerial gunning programs of their own, meaning that soon the wolves of Yellowstone could be gunned down from airplanes if they leave the safety of the park. Congress needs to act - urge your representative to co-sponsor new legislation to end aerial gunning now!

Under Alaska's cruel aerial gunning policy, marksmen can shoot wolves from the air or use airplanes to chase them in deep snow to the point of exhaustion then land and execute them at point blank range. It's time to end this brutal practice. Representative George Miller (D-CA) will be introducing legislation in September to do just that - his bill would close a loophole in the Federal Airborne Hunting Act to prohibit aerial gunning. Click here to send a message to your representative and ask them to co-sponsor Rep. Miller's bill to end aerial gunning

I've been a reader and contributor to the Black Commentator since it began, as well as to the Black Agenda Report, which split off from it.  The July 23rd sit-in in Congressman John Conyers' office, in which I took part, has led to quite a brouhaha in both publications.  Last week the Black Agenda Report printed a column I wrote about that action, and the Black Commentator published a column by Rev. Lennox Yearwood who also took part, as well as a response from Larry Pinkney criticizing our efforts and specifically denouncing me as racist and arrogant.  This morning the Black Commentator published various readers' responses, more opinion from Pinkney, and an article of mine about impeachment (despite my arrogant racism, I guess).  Also last week, Rev. Yearwood and I discussed this topic on the Pacifica Radio show "Voices of Vision," and this morning Pinkney and I are scheduled to discuss it again on the same program.