BREAKING NEWS: 22 million missing Bush White House e-mails have been found, two nonprofit groups say

[Jim__]

Source: MSNBC

No Story yet - just a headline.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/

[marmar]

1. You can delete, but you can't destroy........

:think:

[sinkingfeeling]

2. Oh my, won't this be fun!

[Rosa Luxemburg]

91. why isn't it headlines

tiny headline down the page on MSNBC and CNN. This is much more interesting than Tiger woods

[sam sarrha]

98. they are covering this up with Tiger Woods bullshit..

[Rosa Luxemburg]

99. we'd like to see Cheney's emails too

[sam sarrha]

106. Bu$h didn't do mush in the oval office but play Video games and pray..Chaney did it all. like Bu$h41

and Reagan.. before they gave Ron the Lobotomy for the Iran Contra Hearings

[Rosa Luxemburg]

113. did cheney destroy his emails?

[salguine]

172. W spent a lot of time spinning in the chair and going "wheeee."

[RaleighNCDUer]

162. But Mrs Woods was seen without her RING!!! OMG!!! nt

[The Backlash Cometh]

170. I'm salivating the way my dog does when I use the electric can opener.

[xultar]

3. $20 bucks say that they are behind the Nigerian spam

:hide:

[foxfeet]

8. ROFL!

:rofl:

[Roland99]

31. Niger, Yellowcake, tens of millions of funds from the Nigerian President waiting for you. hmmmm?

Coincidence?


I think NOT!

[CatWoman]

78. you're so damn crazy!!

:hi:

:rofl:

[BigAnth]

102. I would agree, but it's only 22 million e-mails. n/t

[Kind of Blue]

116. I was born there and

usually any mention of those nefarious spams makes me cringe. But that was damn funny Xultar :rofl: thanks.

[truthisfreedom]

4. Ruh-roh. cheney's heart rate is elevated today. bush is a little wet in the pits.

And a lot of the former WH staff is a little shivery.

[pleah]

46. Waiting for it to explode.

:evilgrin:

[tblue37]

70. Under lock and key until at least 2014--unless some patriotic hackers find a way. nt

[Rosa Luxemburg]

89. whose key baby!

[disndat]

165. According to the NYTimes this AM

The earliest the public will be able to see the email tapes will be 2014 because the tapes will take that long to process through the National Archives. I wonder if the public can still invoke FOIA sooner.

[abelenkpe]

169. Yeah, saw that on TV last nite and

wondered how that could be the case in a digital age. There are so many looking for work, I'm sure they'd appreciate the double plus benefit of a paycheck and analyzing the dirt on the administration that wrecked our country.

Would love to see this info get out asap. Waiting until 2014 just sounds like a delay tactic to sweep the whole thing under the carpet. Who wants to place a bet that in 2013 those emails are quietly made unavailable until 2025?

[DWilliamsamh]

51. Want to make a bet if his next appearance in in wheelchair??

He will seek to look as old and helpless as possible, in an attempt to garner sympathy for the "pathetic sick old man."

[zeemike]

54. But I already feel sorry for the pathetic sick old man.

and he has been pathetic and sick for most of his life I imagin....
But that does not detour me from wanting to see him spend his declining days in prison.

[SomeGuyInEagan]

55. His Mr. Potter impersonation just in time for the holidays!

[sam sarrha]

101. i wont bother watching anything about him till he shows up in a box

[Duer 157099]

5. Popcorn time!

Wonder which two groups they are that are saying this?

[hootinholler]

16. National Security Archives and CREW n/t

[grantcart]

6. 22 million! wow

[ProgressiveProfessor]

7. Intriguing if true...need more details as to which system and how they were found

Its way too easy to build a system that will not create logs and records.

Popcorn to the ready!

[rudy23]

9. The Obama admin will never let us see anything good from these.

I really don't think we're going to see a glove laid on the Bush cabal in our lifetimes.

[robo50]

11. I tend to agree. This email stuff is AT LEAST as much "executive priviledge"

as anything else, phone calls, visitors to White House, etc.

[Lorien]

59. Of course not. It's a closed club that we'll never be a member of. nt

[Independent_Liberal]

135. I really don't care...

As I've said before, I'll fight to have them prosecuted for the rest of my life if I have to.

[Golden Raisin]

147. They will get off scott free.

Just as there was no impeachment they will not be called to judgment. They raped and spat on the Constitution for 8 long years, bankrupted this country financially and morally, and brought us to the edge of a fascist dictatorship. They'll enjoy warm and comfy retirements safe and immune from any prosecution. Hell, with all the post-9/11 spying they authorized Cheney probably has more dirt on everyone in Washington, D.C. than J. Edgar Hoover ever did.

[Independent_Liberal]

178. They will if we want them too.

Maybe impeachment would have happened if enough of us spoke out a little more than we did and hung in there a little longer instead of throwing in the towel. But it appears everybody wants to throw in the towel and live in misery.

Well, when the next Bush admin. is in power, we WILL be a complete fascist dictatorship. Won't it be because everybody remained silent like "Good Germans?"

The thing people need to do, like Cindy Sheehan said, is throw themselves onto the gears of the war machine and military industrial complex. That's the only way things will change. And Sheehan is one of those who have the determination to do it.

[earth mom]

149. The writing was on the wall when Pelosi took Impeachment off the table and now

Obama does the same shit * did. :argh:

[maddezmom]

10. AP: 22 million missing Bush White House e-mails found

22 million missing Bush White House e-mails found
By PETE YOST (AP) – 17 minutes ago

WASHINGTON — Two nonprofit groups say that computer technicians have found 22 million White House e-mails from the administration of President George W. Bush.

The two groups say the electronic messages were previously mislabeled and effectively lost.

An announcement Monday by the two groups is the latest development in a controversy that surrounded the failure by the Bush White House to install an electronic recordkeeping system
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gWSuD9llgfBBhc3k1rUyEqyMZYowD9CJ9MDO0

and background article from 1/2009
Missing White House E-Mails Traced, Justice Aide Says


By R. Jeffrey Smith
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 15, 2009

A Justice Department lawyer told a federal judge yesterday that the Bush administration will meet its legal requirement to transfer e-mails to the National Archives after spending more than $10 million to locate 14 million e-mails reported missing four years ago from White House computer files.

Civil division trial lawyer Helen H. Hong made the disclosure at a court hearing provoked by a 2007 lawsuit filed by outside groups to ensure that politically significant records created by the White House are not destroyed or removed before President Bush leaves office at noon on Tuesday. She said the department plans to argue in a court filing this week that the administration's successful recent search renders the lawsuit moot.

Hong's statement came hours after U.S. District Court Judge Henry H. Kennedy Jr. ordered employees of the president's executive office -- with just days to go before their departure -- to undertake a comprehensive search of computer workstations, preserve portable hard drives and examine any e-mail archives created or retained from 2003 to 2005, the period in which e-mails appeared to be missing.

Hong said private contractors had helped find the e-mails by searching through an estimated 60,000 tapes that contain daily recordings of the entire contents of the White House computers as a precaution against an electronic disaster.



http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/14/AR2009011401957.html

[Brother Buzz]

12. Dimes to donuts says they will not see sunlight for years

Filing frivolous lawsuits to keep them hidden will become a growth industry.

[EFerrari]

18. The Obama administration will not allow them into the light.

[Brother Buzz]

23. Attorney General Holden does appear to have an agenda

[Arkana]

37. Good thing that Eric HOLDER is the Attorney General, then.

[Brother Buzz]

44. LOL, I'm stuck on stupid today

[jberryhill]

65. No, he meant HOLDEN....

I'm sure he played Attorney General somewhere along the line.

He was awesome in Network.

[Amonester]

141. Yep. Maybe the Ruling cla$$ have a bigger agenda than...

both Holder and Obama (and anyone else...)

I'd even bet they have a private army (and a secret bunch of "super-duper mercenaries...") at their disposal anytime.

And they know where their kids are.

Of course, they told them (in secret), and told them to 'zip it' (or else...).

They're not the world's biggest mafia for nothin'.

[howmad1]

71. If that be the case......

....I will work my ass off to to see that he becomes the first one term black president this country ever had.

[EFerrari]

76. What does black have to do with this? Justice is going to protect

presidential power. I don't see what any of us can do about it.

[Window]

104. Well damn.

[Cherchez la Femme]

119. Just the ones that don't cross their agenda

Heaven knows (and goddess-knows for what reasons) they've protected Bush, Cheney, Yoo, Rumsfeld, etc. for so long and to such an extent.

We'll never see them in toto. The real question is, will they outright destroy the emails which could cause them discomfort or will we be able to see them in 50 years or so?

[Kind of Blue]

128. Well, I don't know...

because from what I heard on NPR today, the Obama admin. worked with the plaintiffs - Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a group known as CREW, and the National Security Archive - "toward this settlement." You may be right but I hope not because I see lots of leaks coming.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121434093

[Old and In the Way]

19. Unless, someone like Wikileaks gets ahold of them....

that's a lot of files, but a single server could start a seed....

[Laf.La.Dem.]

13. Did BUSH read ALL of them (HA)

I am sure he analyzed all of them:silly:

[dave29]

14. This is clearly Obama's fault

somehow, I just feel it

[Name removed]

132. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[change_notfinetuning]

15. If true, they listened to the wrong experts, yet again. An atheist might be

moved to prayer.

[tomm2thumbs]

17. The CIA turning on Cheney ? Who else would have kept 22 million emails?

Oh, that's right. The Chinese have them too.

[Rozlee]

24. Or at least, some little Chinese nerd doing a little hacking

[Selena Harris]

27. Weren't the ...

Israelis involved in setting up some of the WH systems?

[mod mom]

20. I really hope that the Obama Administration will not step in to prevent their release!

[Soylent Brice]

21. link

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34419592/ns/politics/

[winyanstaz]

22. good...I shall be watching to see what comes of this news...

[Eric Condon]

25. Wow, can't wait to see how much they won't be punished for the revelations surely contained within.

[dysfunctional press]

26. if you think the obama administration will let ANYTHING incriminating to the previous tenant out...

think again.

thick as thieves.

[MessiahRp]

28. I agree with this. I suspect they will move quickly to protect the worst ones from exposure.

Sadly enough...

Rp

[Goldstein1984]

43. It's of "vital national interest" to preserve our untarnished image.

Unless someone was quick enough to disperse copies to ensure disclosure, they're probably already on their way to the Ministry of Truth.

Those who control the present, control the past.

[KansDem]

58. As much as I hate to admit it, I'm afraid you're correct...

The emails will be buried "so as not to endanger US troops in the mideast."

[MissDeeds]

107. I'm afraid that may be the case

I don't know what it's going to take to expose the Bush cabal. Obama made it clear from the get-go that "we need to look forward", so he probably won't bring the content of the emails to light. I hope I'm wrong, but I'm not holding out much hope.

[dysfunctional press]

109. 'hope' and obama DEFINITELY don't go together.

impotent fuckwad of a potus.

[MissDeeds]

111. Dude!!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Nothing like cutting right to the chase! :hi:

[Independent_Liberal]

136. We really don't "know" that they will or won't...

Of course, our thoughts on it now are simply based on political developments we've seen. The thing is, if we keep saying nothing will happen, then nothing will.

[dysfunctional press]

156. track records are very telling...

whatever happened to that second round of abu ghraib photos that obama once said would be released?

just like clinton did with poppy- obama is going to let the dim son's transgressions go unpunished and un-acknowledged...

gotta keep lookin' forward after all.

[Iowa]

29. And, of course, Obama will bury these emails. Bush/Cheney/Obama... 2001-2013.

[superconnected]

30. Those climate scientists emails are going to look like nothing!

[zbdent]

110. of course, these e-mails won't get the media scrutiny and the treatment

that the climate scientist e-mails received ...

[boppers]

131. Oh, I'm sure white-hot partisans will get their hands on them, and have all sorts of distortions.

That's just politics, where facts and science too often take a back seat to appearances and beliefs.

[thereismore]

32. OK... I would be really surprised if we get to see any of it. nt

[TheWatcher]

33. The Former Dictatorship has nothing to worry about.

Bush and his Cabal could be directly linked to the Holocaust at this point, and none of them will be held accountable.

We will simply be told by the current Administration that accountability is "off the table", "we need to move forward, we cannot live in the past, good of the country", etc.

And the faithful will drool and cheer and tell us it's good.

There Is Nothing New Under The Sun.

[Independent_Liberal]

138. "There Is Nothing New Under The Sun"

Well, for now that is true. But what I try to tell people is if we keep saying nothing will be done, nothing will. And then won't we only have ourselves to blame when the next Bush Admin. is in power doing things on a far worse scale than the previous? Our silence is our own worst enemy. That's why it always matters to speak up.

[TheWatcher]

144. And speak out we shall and we will continue to do so.

But what needs to be understood is that we not only have to worry about the monsters who are now masquerading as our "saviors" to worry about, we have a brainwashed population who now worships the very same paradigm they OPPOSED for eight years under the LAST dictatorship.

Maybe they do so because they can't handle the prospect of being had YET AGAIN, Maybe they never were on the side of right instead of wrong to begin with, just mindless cheerleaders for their "Football Team", only stumbling on to the side of right when the "other Football Team" had the ball, or they do so out of fear and cowardice.

Whatever may come to pass though, they will NOT shout down those of us who can see, and they WILL be met with the same resistance that the previous dictatorship got from us too.

And if they can't handle it, I dare them to do something about it.

It would at least show they have the courage to do SOMETHING, instead of just drooling and accepting everything at face value.

[Blue_Tires]

34. someone in the White House *really* wanted to see Britney Spears nekkid

either that or they were in need of prescription-free penile enhancement...

[Arkana]

35. WWWWWHHHHHHHAAAAAAA????

please let this be real oh please oh please oh pretty please

[SharonRB]

36. I hope this is true -- this could be fun!

:popcorn:

[mahatmakanejeeves]

38. We interrupt this program:

Truck carrying all 22 million missing emails involved in collision with bicycle messenger in DC. Burns to the ground. All emails destroyed. Totally. No chance to recover. At all. Move along. Nothing to see here.

[thelordofhell]

39. And about 15 million are Hannah Montana fan letters

Bush loved that show, heh-heh.

[Arkana]

40. Part of me almost wishes this were true.

[audas]

45. Fact is there are 91 days missing

the two parties have come to an agreement (what is that agreement) and only 30 days will be restored THATS A FACT - selectively chosen so as not to
cast any incriminating shadows over Obamas buddy's Cheney and Bush.

[KamaAina]

50. Even Nixon was only missing 18 and a half minutes

:eyes:

[OnyxCollie]

74. Fact, huh?

COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM
MEMORANDUM
February 26,2008
Members of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
Democratic Committee Staff
Supplemental Information for Full Committee Hearing on White House E-mails

At this point, the full extent of the missing White House e-mails cannot be determined.
There appear to be two main sources of missing e-mails. First, over 80 White House officials,
including many of the most senior officials in the White House, regularly used RNC e-mail
accounts. The RNC, however, has preserved no e-mails for over 50 of these officials and has
saved few e-mails for the other officials from before fall 2006.

Second, an analysis of the White House e-mail system in 2005 identified over 700 days in
which a component of the Executive Office of the President had an unusually low number of emails
preserved on White House servers, including 473 days in which a component had no
preserved e-mails. According to the analysis, there are 12 days of no e-mails for the President's
immediate office and 16 days of no e-mails for the Vice President's office. The 2005 analysis
was prepared by a team of 15 White House officials and contractor personnel supervised by Mr.
McDevitt.

~snip~

June 20, 2007 The General Counsel for the Archives wrote to the White House
Counsel's office asking for an "email update." In that e-mail, he wrote: "you have stated
that emails appear to be missing from the White House from the time period of late 2003
through late 2005, although you have not been able to provide any estimate of how many
emails are actually missing." He reminded the Counsel's office that on May 21, we
were informed that the OA CIO audit of the missing email situation should be completed
in about 4 weeks." He stated that it is "imperative" that the Archives be updated on the
progress of the investigation into both these e-mail losses and -White House progress into
planning for a recovery of presidential records from the RNC. The e-mail renewed the
Archives' request that the White House commence restoration of missing e-mails from
the backup tapes.

~snip~

IV. EXTENT OF THE MISSING E-MAILS
At this point, it is not possible to quantify the extent of the missing White House e-mails,
but it appears that the problem is significant and has two separate components: (l) White House
e-mails sent using RNC e-mail accounts that were destroyed by the RNC, and (2) White House
e-mails sent using official White House e-mail accounts that were not archived. The White
House's own analysis from 2005 identified over 700 days when there were either no e-mails for
a component of the Executive Offrce of the President or significantly fewer e-mails than
predicted in the White House archive system.

In recent meetings, the White House has disputed the extent of the e-mails missing from
the White House servers. However, documents that the White House provided and showed to
Committee staff for review show that the archive system did not preserve e-mails from the
Office of the Vice President that were sought by Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald.

Plame, US Attorneys, Iraq. It's all there.

[fascisthunter]

85. holy... wow!

this looks like BIG, unless people make back room deals with each other, and this government once again does something else unconstitutional, like preventing this info from holding the criminals accountability.

[DainBramaged]

41. Distraction

:tinfoilhat:

Obama is going to buy off LIEberman, so why does anyone think these all of a sudden showed up?

[Purveyor]

42. But the public might not see any of the e-mails for quite some time because...

But the public might not see any of the e-mails for quite some time because they will now go through the National Archives normal process for releasing presidential and agency records.

[boppers]

133. 2014

Less than 5 years on the inside, but probably more to protect and ongoing projects/people that are still active in 5 years.

[Torn_Scorned_Ignored]

47. * l *

:beer: :popcorn:

[Kokonoe]

48. Executive Privilege

EOM.... next
The Interweb ??? lol

[GoddessOfGuinness]

49. Just in time for the statute of limitations for their crimes to run out nm

[winyanstaz]

187. There is no statue of limitations on murder...or war crimes.

[Lil Missy]

52. But .... but .... Clinton's penis!!!!!

[derby378]

53. I want to see how many of these e-mails were pre-9/11...

...not to mention what was discussed in those e-mails, and with who, and for what purpose.

[Kokonoe]

60. Gees

Don't worry Bush cleaned up real good.
Don't expect any cooperation.
In the end
it comes down to what ever.

[Cherchez la Femme]

121. The British press

recently reported that Blair knew that Bush was talking about invading Iraq pre 9-11. Can't find the link right off but I believe it was in The Independent. At least the article I read.

Apologies if you already knew this...

[derby378]

164. I didn't - thanks for sharing

I know that Blair is facing possible prosecution for his "sycophancy" with Bush on invading Iraq, however. Fingers crossed...

[disndat]

173. Blair may be Bush's Achilles heel.

I've read that the Gordon Brown government is after his ass for war crimes.

[liberal N proud]

56. Funny thing about emails

1. They are stored/backed up on servers and there are laws governing that.
   
2. When you send an email, there is a recipient, who also has their mail stored on a server and backed up and there are laws governing that.
   

Unless everyone deleted all the email the sent and received immediately it wouldn't be too difficult to find these. That is what has been so stupid know that no one has said get the back ups.

[sonias]

57. 2014 at the earliest

AP News 10/14/09 via Reflector.com
(snip)
It will be years before the public sees any of the recovered e-mails because they will now go through the National Archives' process for releasing presidential and agency records. Presidential records of the Bush administration won't be available until 2014 at the earliest.

Oh crap another 5 year wait! :grr:


Sonia

[HughMoran]

61. Sweet

Let's hope they got good stuff in 'em :evilgrin:

[cui bono]

62. 22 million missing Bush White House e-mails found (with story)

Source: AP

WASHINGTON – Computer technicians have found 22 million missing White House e-mails from the administration of President George W. Bush and the Obama administration is searching for dozens more days' worth of potentially lost e-mail from the Bush years, according to two groups that filed suit over the failure by the Bush White House to install an electronic record keeping system.

The two private groups — Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and the National Security Archive — said Monday they were settling the lawsuits they filed against the Executive Office of the President in 2007.

<snip>

The government now can find and search 22 million more e-mails than it could in late 2005 and the settlement means that the Obama administration will restore 94 calendar days of e-mail from backup tape, said Kristen Lejnieks, an attorney representing the National Security Archive.

Sheila Shadmand, another lawyer representing the National Security Archive, said the Obama administration is making a strong effort to clean up "the electronic data mess left behind by the prior administration."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091214/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_white_house_e_mail



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091214/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_white_house_e_mail

[CaliforniaPeggy]

63. That is great news.

K&R

[cui bono]

64. Obama admin. cleaning up the mess...

Unfortunately I don't think that means what we want it to mean.

:(

[TheWatcher]

154. You meant "covering up the mess", right?

[Kokonoe]

66. OH. sorry for my previous posts

Lets hope its cleaned up quick.

[alp227]

73. I wonder what they say if they are revealed

Those emails might be interesting insights on the corruption and negativity Bush put into our government.

[tinrobot]

88. So, if I read correctly, they produced 22 million emails in 94 days?

The government now can find and search 22 million more e-mails than it could in late 2005 and the settlement means that the Obama administration will restore 94 calendar days of e-mail from backup tape,

Is that what I think I read?

[Earth_First]

120. 234042.5 emails per day...

wowzers!

there has to be somethng worth reading in there...

[boppers]

134. It's a number to account for all the messages found.

One email message, about, oh, a staff birthday party gets sent. Say there's 200 recipients. One message is suddenly 201 (one on the server, 200 on the recipient computers). Somebody hits "reply to all", and says 'Hey, I'll be there!" Now, there are two actual messages, but counting all messages on all backups, that's 402 messages (the envelopes will be different).

They aren't just harvesting messages from the servers, they're pulling all the workstations, too (in case somebody used an external SMTP/IMAP/POP (etc.) mail service.

[Hekate]

67. Woohoo!

:woohoo: :bounce: :woohoo: :bounce: :woohoo: :bounce: :woohoo: :bounce: :woohoo: :bounce: :woohoo: :bounce:

Let the games begin!

Hekate

[crim son]

68. Interesting. Maybe this is what Obama has been waiting for

and we can now proceed with sending the Bush cabal to prison for a long, long time.

[Myrina]

69. Oh noes! Bush was having an affair with Tiger Woods!

:rofl: It's all over now.

[budkin]

72. Oh hell yes

[defendandprotect]

75. Wouldn't it be loverely . . . !!! Oh, joy!!!

[fascisthunter]

77. I'm Waiting....

eagerly, to see what Obama does now... will he protect these criminals again or will he let justice take care of business.

[barbtries]

79. wow

i'll volunteer to read 1,000 of them.

jeez

[avaistheone1]

80. Don't get too excited.

All that is going to come out of this is Obama is either going to ignore the whole mess, or shake his finger at Bush.

[ejbr]

83. + 1 n/t

[TheWatcher]

155. He might send a strongly worded letter, even.

Stand back everyone!

He's getting ready to strike!

He'll REALLY show them now.

Why, I bet he even might tell them they better not EVER do it AGAIN, for good measure!

Tough as Eastwood that Obama!

Fistful Of Dollars! (For Wall Street Of Course. And No One Else.)

[SalmonChantedEvening]

81. And half of them are titled Do Not Delete.

:rofl:


This is a major find. Sweat Karl, SWEAT!!! BAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[slampoet]

82. 22 Million emails and Tiger Woods is still the headline.

effin lazy reporters.

[DutchLiberal]

87. They're not lazy, they're complicit.

[The Hope Mobile]

84. Here is another link . . .

www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-12-14-White-House-emails_N.htm?csp=24&RM_Exclude=Juno

"We may never discover the full story of what happened here" said Melanie Sloan, CREW's executive director. "It seems like they just didn't want the emails preserved".

Sloan said the latest count of misplaced emails "gives us confirmation that the Bush administration lied when they said no emails were missing."

[jimshoes]

108. Bush LIED!!!!???!!!

Well fuck me.

[The Hope Mobile]

188. I know, can you believe it?????

I am beside myself with shock.

[jimshoes]

189. Howdy, The Hope Mobile

:hi:

[The Hope Mobile]

191. Hey JimShoes!!!

:hi

[DutchLiberal]

86. Doesn't matter what's in it. Even if they found the bodies of ten dead girls in Cheney's basement...

He would not be prosecuted. Same with Bush, same with Rumsfeld, same with all the other criminals from the Bush-administrations. US presidents and their cabinet-members are above the law. Instead, they get welcomed into a new administration, like Robert Gates, who has the blood of thousands of dead Nicaraguans on his hands.

[Independent_Liberal]

125. Let's keep repeating that until everybody believes it.

"US presidents and their cabinet-members are above the law."

We need to nip this in the bud before it becomes accepted belief. I know people say things when they're cynical that they don't really mean. I accept that there are double standards and all involving rich people and poor folk and people in government and those not in government. I'm familiar with it all very much thank you. You don't need to tell me that twice. But we need to reign in our cynicism at some point. Just my thoughts, nothing else.

[ima_sinnic]

150. the statement is correct until proven wrong

and so far not one thing has happened to disprove it, but quite a few opportunities to turn it around have been swept under the rug and/or disregarded.

[Independent_Liberal]

183. The problem I have with the "above the law" meme...

It's like saying since they haven't been prosecuted yet, that means they're above the law. So they're above the law until they are prosecuted? That's like saying if somebody robbed a bank, that person is technically above the law until they are arrested and formally charged. If they were above the law, we wouldn't be bothering to prosecute them at all. There's people who have committed crimes and have gotten away with them before, so does that mean they're above the law since they were never caught? It's like saying LBJ, McNamara, Nixon, Kissinger, etc. were above the law. Just because you don't get caught for an alledged crime doesn't mean you can't be prosecuted when you do get caught. Hope somebody understands my argument on this and why I see it as such flawed logic.

[DutchLiberal]

186. But the system enables them to get away with it, even if they get caught!

How many times have Bush and Cheney get caught basically confessing their crimes out in the open? How many audio, video and written material is there that incriminates them? We all know it, we have documented it. But Nancy Pelosi took impeachment "off the table" with no valid reason, and Obama and Eric Holder keep protecting them.

How much evidence was there for the Iran/Contra scandal (where Reagan and Bush secretly sold weapons to a radical islamic regime, and used the money to fund terrorist death squads in Nicaragua)? It was Clinton who swept it all under the rug and declared it was time to "look forward". And he, in his turn, could count on it not to be prosecuted for bombing half a million Iraqi civilians to death, or for his torture programs known as 'extraordinary rendition' (a practice Obama is continuing).

(I'm still not sure why the Republicans wanted to impeach him over the blowjob. I'm sure there has to more than that, since both Republicans and Democrats know they can always count on each other to sweep each others' crimes under the rug. Why was Nixon nearly impeached for Watergate, but not for the illegal and covert expansion of the Vietnam war into Laos and Cambodja? Another mystery.)

The bottom line, is that politicians from both parties actively enable their predecessors to get away with murder (literally), and that places them "above the law".

[DutchLiberal]

177. US presidents and their cabinet members ARE above the law.

The only ones who ever go to jail, are the government officials in the 'lower regions'. An aide here, an assistant there. That's all. And most of the time, they get pardoned too!

Who has ever been prosecuted for the crimes they committed? Johnson? McNamara? Nixon? Kissinger? Reagan? Clinton? Albright? Poppy and Junior Bush? Cheney? Rumsfeld? None of them! They get to live the rest of their lives in luxury, enjoy the privileges of an 'elder statesman', or go into the speech-giving circuit, making thousands of dollars per hour bragging about the horrible things they've done. Or they go on tv and get treated like a credible and respectable source of knowledge. :puke:

[Independent_Liberal]

179. "Above the Law" maybe not literally but figuratively.

I can kind of see where your coming from based on all past examples of government officials not being prosecuted for their actions in public office. That has remained true for years. I won't argue with you on that one iota.

But the problem is so many think it should remain this way and we shouldn't even bother trying to change things. That's been an accepted belief for years that, frankly, I think needs to change. Then won't we in the end be the ones responsible for own destruction?

New precedents get created all the time. Maybe the US won't prosecute them, but other countries aren't going to let the war crimes, torture, etc. stand. You can mark my words on that.

[DutchLiberal]

185. Other countries can do little.

They can, under international law, prosecute war criminals or those who committed "crimes against humanity", or simply those who violated the Geneva Conventions. But that only has any effect if the person being prosecuted sets foot on that country's soil --which they will avoid, of course. I believe war criminal Henry Kissinger can't travel to certain countries, is that right? And didn't Barack "change you can believe in" Obama took advice from Kissinger? (Maybe that's why he recognizes the coup regime that toppled President Zelaya in Honduras?)

[Ed76638]

90. THESE ARE THE REAL FUCKING EMAILS!!!!!!!

Not that other shit right-wingers were complaining about.

[ColesCountyDem]

92. Nothing ever vanishes in cyberspace.

Nothing.... never. People need to understand that.

[JonQ]

93. If they were found by a hacker

and I have no idea if they were or not, would they still be admissible? I wonder.

[NecklyTyler]

94. Paging Eric Holder, Paging Eric Holder

It is time for some sealed Grand Jury Indictments to be handed down

[winyanstaz]

95. Now if we could find the missing billions and trillions :P

[guitar man]

96. Contents are already being leaked

"Dick, got any booze? Laura hid my damn jug again!"

"Karl....pull my finger!"

"Steve...how DO I get The Beatles on my iPod ?"

"BUUURRRP!!! Scooze me! Hehe"

Dammit Laura, I'm tellin you this Nigerian prince fella has 15 million he wants to give me!"

"can somebody come get me? I'm somewhere in the basement I think"


:P

[seeinfweggos]

97. files are never completely gone from everywhere

[sam sarrha]

100. no link>>

[Window]

103. Oh boy...hope something comes of this.

[Independent_Liberal]

127. Good to see somebody still holding out hope.

Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one. It's comforting to know there are others like me. I'm just so used to the usual "hope destroying" fests that go on like "Nobody will be prosecuted for this," "the government is above the law," "Move on," etc., etc. It's almost like that's what people want. I view it as a self-defeating prophecy. We need to defeat it before it defeats us.

[TheWatcher]

145. It is not our cynicism that is defeating us. it is our lack of action against those who continue to

HARM us.

There is nothing wrong with being positive.

There is nothing wrong with being hopeful.

But having faith in the very criminals who are destroying you to somehow STOP and start policing themselves is utter folly.

Until this hypnotized, brainwashed public gets their heads out of their asses (And the television), wakes up to the fact that NEITHER side of this false Left/Right paradigm is on THEIR Side, and the interests of We The People, and TAKES their country back, you can be assured that it will be business as usual.

Another way to put it is this.

If you have been cornered by a serial killer, and he is coming toward you with a knife, and he 100% plans to carve you up into little pieces, having faith and hope that he will somehow have an epiphany
and not kill you is going to do NOTHING but assure that your family needs to start making your funeral arrangements. If you want to live you have to physically try to stop him. You may or may not succeed, but if you do nothing but hope he won't kill you, then your death is assured.

WE have to STOP these people. ALL of them.

NEITHER side is on OUR side.

I have news for you.

They ARE above the law.

They WON'T be prosecuted.

But We the People are not powerless.

We have to speak out, stand up, and say "NO MORE."

In the end it is going to come down to what the population is prepared to do to GET their country BACK, that will determine if they can make it happen.

Right now, there is very little chance of it happening, because they can't even WAKE UP to what is really happening to them.

Hope is good. Faith is good.

But those alone are not going to make it happen.

I would LOVE to think that this won't be swept under the rug and never heard fom again after ONE news cycle, but at this point, I will have to see it to believe it.

[Independent_Liberal]

181. Lack of action, precisely.

I will agree with you on that. I do try to encourage people to act. Like you said, it's a matter of certain folks who need to get their heads out their asses in regards to their thinking that one side of the right/left corporate paradigm is with them when it's clear neither side is. I just try to assure some folks who feel powerless to stop it that they aren't powerless, and I'm glad you see it that way. As for "They ARE above the law. They WON'T be prosecuted." well, it doesn't have to be that way if enough folks got up the courage to act and say "No I won't accept this." Sorry if you thought I was just ranting because I believe people's cynicism is why nothing changes. Obviously, that's not the main part of the problem. There's other realities of the situation folks have yet to acknowledge before they can fully understand how to solve the problem. Glad to see we're on the same page where that is concerned.

[TheWatcher]

184. We are on the same page, and I am glad you continue to speak out and encourage people to fight.

The biggest problem you are up against is that MOST of the Public DOESN'T WANT TO KNOW what is really going on.

In 1930's Germany, they called it "Superior Indifference."

In our decade, I believe they would call it "Invincible Willful Ignorance".

We have to fight our cynicism, because for those who can see and who are fully enlightened, it is our greatest enemy. We feel overwhelmed by the majority who is so brainwashed, they make everything look and feel hopeless sometimes, and that makes us want to GIVE UP and just accept what is happening and our fate.

WE CANNOT DO THIS.

At the VERY LEAST, we have to be willing to go down swinging.

Every day we must do one simple thing.

RESIST.

These people are NOT as Invincible as they appear.

They only wield the Power WE allow them to HAVE.

As soon as we decide to take it away, they are finished.

And they KNOW that.

That's why they are so desperately trying to close all the windows of opportunity we have left ot RESIST them.

They must not succeed.

And if they DO succeed, we need to at the very least try to make the price so high that it isn't worth it for them.

[thelordofhell]

105. This just in

Dick Cheney is headed off to Paraguay for a "vacation".

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

112. 22,001,999 total.

:think:

[jtrockville]

114. Fitzgerald (or someone) needs to reopen the investigation.

Remember the time period where the emails went "missing":
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=433x53592#53872

[eridani]

115. Put all of those suckers online RIGHT NOW!

Jeebus! What are they waiting for?

[Quixote1818]

117. This will make the so called "climate gate" look like child's play. nt

[w4rma]

118. Awesome. There will be some serious evidence of wrongdoing in those. (nt)

[Cherchez la Femme]

122. Which server?

Is that the right term? I mean, did they find 22 million .gov emails or somehow found the private emails those crooks were illegally using?

Must be getting old, I forget the private page & accompanying email discovered by the close (.org or .com) satire site.
Anyone remember? Have a link?

[boppers]

148. Not "which server". "Which servers *and* "which clients".

All the comps in the white house had daily backups.

One way of avoiding being part of the "official" email stream was to use different, unofficial, servers for some emails.

So, pulling all the email records that were on the official servers was one part, until folks realized that a single email user may used multiple servers.... some "official", some not.

So, the next step was to pull every email from the daily backups of email clients (Outlook, Thunderbird, Mail.app etc.) on the client computers.

All that being said, there may be additional webmail (hotmail, yahoo, gmail) messages out there to find, as well.

[MARSHALOTIS]

123. YOU'VE GOT E-MAIL

UNFORTUNATELY THE RETURNED "MISSING,NEVER MISSING,NEVER WRITTEN" E-MAILS THAT WERE RETRIEVED TODAY FROM CYBER HINTERLAND, WON'T BE DECIPHERED IN TIME FOR ANY CRIMINAL ACTIVITY ADMITTED IN THOSE EMAILS TO BE PROSECUTED. AND PROBABLY WON'T BE MADE PUBLIC UNTIL ABOUT 5 YEARS FROM NOW.
DRAT, CRAP! I'M A SENIOR CITIZEN NOW AND I HOPE I'LL STILL BE AROUND FOR THAT UNVEILING. I'LL RAISE YOU ONE KARL ROVE, 1/2 THE HANNITY,O'REILLY,BECK FEST, A HEFTY DOSE OF LIMBAUGH, AND LET'S THROW IN A DOUBLE SIDE OF MADOFF FOR GOOD MEASURE. NOW, HOW DO YOU THINK THEY WILL COMPARE WITH THE W'S MISSING LINKS? SHOULD BE AN INTERESTING READ!

[anachro1]

124. Please

The Attorney General had better get to work on these e-mails before Barack decides to wholesale forgive everything that the previous administration got away with.

'Looking forward' my ass!

[MARSHALOTIS]

129. GET A GRIP

THE RETRIEVED EMAILS, THEY HAVE ALREADY SAID, WERE RECOVERED TOO LATE TO PROSECUTE. GOOD FOR W, SO IT MUST BE OBAMA'S FAULT.

[ima_sinnic]

151. is your caps lock key stuck?

tip: a screwdriver inserted under the edge of the caps lock key and lifted with a little force will send that key flying across the room where it belongs. try it, it works.

[Ahpook]

126. Does it matter?

These fucking monsters got away with all kinds of crimes. Some new found e-mail is going to be the final straw?

I doubt it!

[DRex]

182. Too true....

Admitting to torture had no consequences for these people.
Lying about Iraq, ditto.
Tampering with the voter rolls won them at least one term, probably two.
I can't continue this list, it would take far too long.

The Bushies were and are above the law. Justice is a joke. A goddamned fantasy.
Damn Obama for cementing my cynicism.

[Sunnyshine]

130. Sure somebody is gettin busy on it right now. Revealing evidence sends the guilty scrambling

most of that would drown Goopers in their own cesspool of corruption for years coming. They must answer for it.
* Inc. actively destroyed evidence and the GOP has a cable network dedicated to distorting info and politics daily.

They deserve to be in the hot seat defending themselves for the next 5years. We gotta quit being so nice- they are not/would not.

Please Mr. President and Mr. Holder- uphold the truth in these matters as to better inform our citizens for a more perfect union.
Please let justice be served for history sake- which hopefully benefits us in the coming election years. Roll truth and justice- at last.

[Independent_Liberal]

137. Well put, Sunnyshine.

Like you said, "for history sake- which hopefully benefits us in the coming election years." It will make getting other things done that we want done much easier.

[Sunnyshine]

139. I'd make them sing for their dinner in exchange for helping us put our nation back together.

Of course it won't happen that way- I'm almost certain. These gangsters and pols keep tabs on each other.
They get a fat check and retire as America slides further into political servitude of the ever allusive masters.

[maryinthemorn]

140. It will be interesting to see all of them someday. Good work.

[Raster]

142. Oh goodie! I hope kkkarl rove is cowering in a corner and shitting blood.

[SHRED]

143. So what?

Nothing ever comes of this shit.


For example:
Rove never testified.

The Dems are toothless tigers and the Obama Admin refuses to go after the Bush Crime Family.

Zzzzz.....

[LuckyLib]

146. Hmmmm. The "Weapons of Mass Destruction" have been found.

[dipsydoodle]

152. Link defunct - maybe use this instead

WASHINGTON – Computer technicians have found 22 million missing White House e-mails from the administration of President George W. Bush and the Obama administration is searching for dozens more days' worth of potentially lost e-mail from the Bush years, according to two groups that filed suit over the failure by the Bush White House to install an electronic record keeping system.

The two private groups — Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and the National Security Archive — said Monday they were settling the lawsuits they filed against the Executive Office of the President in 2007.

It will be years before the public sees any of the recovered e-mails because they will now go through the National Archives' process for releasing presidential and agency records. Presidential records of the Bush administration won't be available until 2014 at the earliest.

Former Bush White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said the 22 million e-mails already had been recovered while Bush was still in office and that misleading statements about the former administration's work demonstrate "a continued anti-Bush agenda, nearly a year after a new president was sworn in."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091214/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_white_house_e_mail

[SpiralHawk]

153. Scott Stanzel (R - propagandist) "Whine"

Tres republicon

[BAKTPRT]

161. so whats the story?

[Fly by night]

157. We need to read... every ... one. Then create a massive database ...

... composed of the text of all 22 million messages against which any American can search for their own names.

If we read.every.one, we will take the lid off the fetid sewer that ran our ship of state ... into the ground. And we will damn any and all who remain from its tentacles who went along, to get along (and to get theirs).

Bring it on. Please.

[OneGrassRoot]

158. It can create thousands of new jobs, assigning people to read them!

:)

[Fly by night]

190. I would gladly volunteer to help read those 22 million emails.

I'm sure it would be more entertaining and enlightening than anything on TV.

[Le Taz Hot]

159. And the Obama Administration

will ignore it as they've ignored all treasonous actions by the Bush Administration.

[treestar]

167. The Obama administration will go by the law

It's their job to argue they are privileged. If there is a legal argument that they are not privileged, then a reporter should try to get them by Freedom of Information and argue the case if they are denied.

[BAKTPRT]

160. Duno

Seems like there is a news story missing...Cant find it....Must have been big news...So they know there missing...I have emails missing...I bet you do too...Repost when they find them and make a real story out of it.....Catchy head line ,I must say...We got enough problems in this country and we don't need the media cooking up head lines to sell news...bunch of bureaucratic capitalist pigs...ooops, Forgot they are on our side.

[Ganja Ninja]

163. What good will it do us?

There's nobody that will use them to prosecute the Bush cabal, certainly not the Democrats.

[stlsaxman]

166. I 'bout soiled myself and choked on my coffee laughing when i heard this on NPR!

WHOOOOO HOOOOO!

:woohoo:

[Imagevision]

168. 2 t0 1 odds this won't even make it to the Chris Mathews group, Obama doesn't care...!

[sofa king]

171. That's almost too bad... for my guesses.

I've been saying for years now that the emails were never lost, just hidden away, and that until they were officially "found" the Republican Party would be at the mercy of their own rapacious, self-centered, criminal employees. I hoped that they would be controlled by their own small-minded criminal geeks for decades to come.

I believe I went on further to speculate that the next Presidential nominee would be closely tied to one or more of those geeks who have the goods. Now, we have to wait.

By 2014, when the criminal depth and breadth of the Bush Administration is more fully exposed, it will be a completely different world. People will be far too busy stealing bikes and shoes from each other to bother hunting down the perpetrators, burning their homes to the ground, and running them out of the country--which is probably what they deserve.

[salguine]

174. Why do I have a feeling nothing will come of this? They've already had

mountains of evidence of prosecutable crimes all along and have yawned at it. Which tells me it's not what they're missing that prevented action, it's that the powers that be are all about making damn good and sure no action is taken.

I guess it depends on who found all these e-mails, and to whom they decide to release them. My guess is, a lot of Democrats are going to end up as collateral damage, which would explain this Administration's refusal to do anything.

[Blue Owl]

175. Remember, the law doesn't apply to them

Didn't then and probably won't now, by the look of things.

[Independent_Liberal]

180. If the law doesn't apply to them...

Why are so many activists here and other organizations like ACLU, Velvet Revolution, etc. bothering to fight to have them prosecuted? If they were really above the law, we'd all just roll over and accept that and instead fight to have all court systems, legislatures, police departments, etc. disbanded.

[Torn_Scorned_Ignored]

176. Did you hear we can petition Congress

They can get the emails, hold hearings and hold the prior administration accountable. For Every crime against our Constitution.

We may be looking at charges of Treason, War Crimes, Torture, and dare I say Murder.

We Never Forgot 9/11.

We never got the truth.

We need to get the Truth this Time.

We are the People.

WE.

In This Time.

In This Place.