It’s June 2004. Do you know where your President is?

Democrats, not surprisingly, think much more scrutiny is necessary and have been complaining for months that Republican leaders in Congress are refusing to hold its allies in the administration accountable on many subjects. Now, even some Republicans say they worry that Congress is abdicating its oversight responsibility. “I believe our failure to do proper oversight has hurt our country and the administration,” said Representative Christopher Shays, a Republican, who traveled to Iraq to view the situation. “Maybe they wouldn’t have gotten into some of this trouble had our oversight been better.”

The Bush administration, having established a firm ally of its agenda as Iraq’s new Prime Minister, agrees to settle for a critic in the ceremonial position of President – after the man they wanted for the post turned down the job:

Mr. Yawar is the leader of the Shamar tribe, one of the largest groups in Iraq. He is an engineer who was educated in the United States and spent several years in exile in Saudi Arabia. American and Iraqi officials had agreed that the presidency ought to go to a Sunni Arab, the country’s second-largest group. Dr. Alawi, who will lead the government as prime minister, is a Shiite Muslim, part of Iraq’s largest demographic group. In recent televised interviews, Mr. Yawar has criticized the American presence and said that the worsening conditions in Iraq were due to the blunderings of the American military. Mr. Yawar’s appointment happened after Mr. Pachachi refused the post.

At a news conference today at his home in the upscale Mansour neighborhood, Mr. Pachachi confirmed that he had been offered the office of president but had turned it down. “This position is an honorary position, and the Iraqi people need someone in this office who has the most public support,” Mr. Pachachi said.

Some would say it was more important that the person in the office that’s more than honorary have more public support…

Federal judge declares “Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act” unconstitutional:

U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton’s ruling came in one of three lawsuits challenging the legislation President Bush signed last year. The ruling applies to Planned Parenthood clinics and their doctors, who perform roughly half the nation’s abortions. “The act poses an undue burden on a woman’s right to choose an abortion,” Hamilton wrote.

Ramping up the strategy of making sure we have no freedoms left for which they can hate us:

Civil-liberties groups are voicing concerns over a first-in-the-nation system giving local police in New York and Vermont instant access to federal files on terrorism. Critics of the pilot program caution that it poses an “enormous risk” of arrest and detention of people without cause. However, officials announcing the new information-sharing system last week emphasized that civil liberties will be protected. “It’s a very dangerous assumption that just because the information is in the system, it’s right,” said Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union. “In the drive to collect data and share it, there has been a neglect of the safeguards that are absolutely essential to protect us from the misuse of information.” The system will allow state and local police to check 12 databases maintained by federal agencies, and provide officers with a direct line to federal agents to report suspicious activities. If a police officer has reason to believe a person might be involved in terror-related activities, state officials with security clearance will share data with their counterparts at federal agencies in Washington. The procedure is designed to keep sensitive information from becoming public. In announcing the system last week, FBI and state officials said they would like to see the program expanded nationally if it succeeds in New York and Vermont. “After all, that’s what the war on terror is all about – to preserve the freedom and liberty that is so important to the American people,” Vermont Gov. James Douglas said.

Oh, what a tangled (oily) web we weave:

Vice President Dick Cheney’s office denied Sunday that he was involved in a coordinated effort to secure a multibillion dollar Iraq oil deal for Halliburton, his former employer. A reference to such an arrangement was made in an internal Pentagon e-mail from an Army Corps of Engineers official to another Pentagon employee, Time magazine reports in its June 7 edition, which is due on newsstands Monday. The existence of the e-mail was confirmed to CNN by a senior administration official familiar with it.

The e-mail — dated March 5, 2003 — says Douglas Feith, undersecretary of defense for policy, approved the arrangement to award the contract to the oil-services company, the administration official said. According to an e-mail excerpt in Time, the contract was “contingent on informing WH [White House] tomorrow. We anticipate no issues since action has been coordinated w[ith] VP’s office.”

Yes, that’s the same Vice President who remained on Halliburton’s payroll after entering the White House.

The Nation calls on progressives to protect and expand Arizona’s system of public financing for elections:

Arizona the new system has increased competition and diversity among candidates, reduced the money gap between challengers and incumbents, and freed its participants from the all-consuming money chase.

Precisely because they fear Arizona’s good example, a small group of developers, bankers and corporate lobbyists with conservative ties that run all the way up to Bush and Tom DeLay are attacking the state’s pioneering system. They’ve raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to put an amendment to the state constitution on the November ballot to nullify the law. Two of the big-money backers of this special-interest power grab are the Bush Pioneers, who have raised more than $100,000 for his campaigns, and the Illinois-based Golden Rule Insurance company, a longtime GOP ally. Their goal: to keep the same corrupt system that has brought us a prescription-drug bill tailored for HMOs and the pharmaceutical and insurance companies; the weakening of environmental rules to pay back oil and gas interests; and huge tax breaks handed over to corporations and wealthy individuals. Two of Arizona’s top elected officials, Democratic Governor Janet Napolitano and Republican Senator John McCain, have endorsed the Keep It Clean campaign, along with nearly sixty groups, including the League of Women Voters, the AARP and the firefighters union. They need our support.

Congressman Silvestre Reyes delivers a Memorial Day message from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus:

There are roughly 1.3 million Hispanic veterans making up 5% of our nation’s 26 million veterans. One hardship facing many of these veterans is inadequate healthcare. If we fail to address this problem now, it will no doubt become a burden for our newest generation of veterans as well. As a Vietnam vet, a Member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, and the Representative for over 70,000 veterans in my district, I have made caring for those who proudly served one of my top priorities. My colleagues in the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) have also made veterans and their issues a priority. Members of the CHC have expressed their support for H.R. 2318, the “Assured Funding for Veterans Health Care Act of 2003.” This bill would automatically fund the veterans’ healthcare system by the number of enrolled veterans and the anticipated changes in the hospital inflation rates for each year. Mandatory funding would guarantee adequate funds for the Veteran Health Administration’s healthcare system and address the increased burden the system anticipates due to the returning troops.

When young soldiers sign their name on the dotted line to protect our country, they understand that they could end up in harm’s way and may have to give the ultimate sacrifice. As veterans and as Members of Congress who have the power to speak for the millions of American veterans, it is our duty to do so and to ensure that we provide them with adequate healthcare. Many Americans may not realize that Hispanic veterans are almost twice as likely to lack insurance, and that 19% are uninsured compared to 10% of the total veteran population. These veterans are also more reliant on the VA for their healthcare services, making it even more crucial that needed resources be provided. The Members of the CHC believe that honorably recognizing America’s veterans takes more than just lip service. We will continue to work to address the needs of our current and future veterans. There are no words that can truly express the gratitude felt for our veterans, but by adding actions to our thank yous, we hope to begin that task.

The Bush Administration, unfortunately, seems content to offer veterans thank yous and little else.

Demosthenes:

Anybody else notice that John Podhoretz’s reaction to Gore’s speech is extraordinarily reminiscent of the stereotypical scene in most detective-style movies where the villian, upon accusation from the protagonist, starts yelling “he’s mad!”

Well, otherwise he’d be stuck, you know, discussing environmental policy or something.

More questions about Iraqi Prime Minister-to-be Allawi’s credibility:

He is the person through whom the controversial claim was channelled that Iraqi weapons of mass destruction could be operational in 45 minutes.

…After the 1991 Gulf War, the Iraq National Accord (INA) party, which he helped to found, became one of the building blocks for the Iraqi opposition in exile. The organisation attracted former Iraqi army officers and Baath party officials, particularly Sunni Arabs, fleeing Iraq. In the mid-1990s the INA claimed to have extensive contacts in the Iraqi officer corps. Dr Allawi began to move from the orbit of MI6 to the CIA. He persuaded his new masters that he was in a position to organise a military coup in Baghdad…Dr Allawi and the INA returned to Iraq after the fall of Saddam and set up offices in Baghdad and in old Baath party offices throughout Iraq. There were few signs that they had any popular support. During an uprising in the town of Baiji, north of Baghdad, last year, crowds immediately set fire to the INA office.

The Guardian reports on a feminist proposal the likes of which is common in much of Europe and relatively unheard of in the United States:

Radical proposals to extend statutory paid maternity leave by a further six months and earmark a portion for fathers only under a so-called “daddy leave” scheme could feature in Labour’s election manifesto for a third term in government, it emerged last night. The plan was floated in a speech by the children’s minister, Margaret Hodge, who said it would give working parents the chance to spend the crucial first year of their new baby’s life at home, while recognising the important role of fathers who, even with limited paid leave, rarely take time off at this stage.

Not surprisingly, European states which allow longer maternity leave, and which provide for paternity leave as well, have made significantly more progress in narrowing the gender wage gap. If the Democratic party wants to reclaim the rhetoric of “family values” from the right, and demonstrate its recognition that feminism is not only a middle-class issue, this would be a good place to start.

Human Rights Watch exposes the ethnic cleansing campaign which continues in Darfur even after the signing of Sudan’s peace accord:

As recently as yesterday, Arab militias attacked five villages 15 kilometers south of Nyala in Darfur, killing 46 civilians and wounding at least nine others, according to local sources. The militias, known as Janjaweed, were accompanied by government soldiers in three Land Cruisers armed with antiaircraft artillery. Human Rights Watch has extensively documented how the Janjaweed have been armed, trained, and uniformed by the Sudanese government.