How did Gorelick end up on the commission?

[zaj]

According to the Washington Times, she was "appointed to the commission by Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, South Dakota Democrat, and former House Democratic leader and presidential candidate Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri".
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20040415-124435-3755r.htm

My question is did someone have to approve this?

What were the ground rules for appointing these people?

[stopbush]

1. Thank heaven's she's on there asking tough questions of the

bush imbeciles. The fact that she can work with guys like Gov Kean - who has done business with the bin Ladens - and R hacks like Lehman and what's-his-name (the fat guy that got slapped down by Richard Clarke) is a testament to her bravery and dedication to finding out the truth.

On edit: ABC News reporting that Gorelick is receiving death threats. DEATH THREATS!

Thank you, Rove, Frist, DeLay and the other neanderthals in the R party. Oh, wait...they're ALL neanderthals!

[KC21304]

2. That would be big Jim Thompson.

I'm sure Karl Rove had final approval of all the commissioners.

[alcuno]

3. She hasn't done anything that would prevent her from being there.

Randi Rhodes was talking about the fact that not one FISA warrant was denied because of anything Gorelick did.

Also, wasn't Philip Zelikow Condi's assistant?

[scarletwoman]

6. Zelikow -- MUCH bigger conflict of interest!

Not to mention Keane, who has extensive business ties to the Saudis.

This is a pre-emptive strike by the rethugs. Murmurs were heard on the Democratic side -- from the grassroots only, I might add -- about the Keane c.o.i. right after Kissinger was let go. Murmurs that pretty much died away months ago, because no Dem leader took up the issue. It was left to those of us out on the "fringe" to be the holders of that knowledge.

Then, much more recently, the Zelikow c.o.i. started getting some attention, but after a well-spun explanation, the matter was dropped. The Dems are just TOO damned polite!

The rethug leaders, of course, have absolutely NO compunction about tearing into a Dem. They smell opportunity and they're on it like a flash -- with LIES no less! Her memo is NOT what they are saying it is. They just figure they can count on the by now tried-and-true method of repeating a falsehood loudly enough and often enough, knowing that the greater mass of the people will never hear differently.

The one bright spot I see in all this, is that if the Commission ends up dissolving in disarray, they may not be able to push their new "Domestic Intelligence Agency" on us -- an outcome to be devoutly wished for.

I have wondered in the last several days if maybe this Commission (hand-picked by the boy emperor himself - or his puppet masters, at least) hasn't been a trojan horse all along. Maybe the deep politics behind it intended all along to suck the American public into accepting an entirely new and improved Big Brother organization -- for our "security", of course...

sw

[aquart]

4. Welcome to DU.

Why are you singling out the woman on the committee? Why aren't you concerned how the others were appointed?

What, precisely and with data and links, is your point?

[zaj]

5. I'm in a discussion, and I'm looking for evidence...

That Bush or the WH approved the members of the commission, including Gorelick.

I need a link or something to provide support for my claim.

[zbdent]

7. Washignton Times reports Gephardt appointed Gorelick.

If you can believe them.

But for the qualifications and such, check out this link:

http://www.9-11commission.gov/about/107-306.title6.htm

Here's some pertinent info. Describes the qualifications and selection process. This might come in handy. Document is longer.

SEC. 603. <> COMPOSITION OF COMMISSION.

(a) Members.--The Commission shall be composed of 10 members, of
whom--
(1) 1 member shall be appointed by the President, who shall
serve as chairman of the Commission;
(2) 1 member shall be appointed by the leader of the Senate
(majority or minority leader, as the case may be) of the
Democratic Party, in consultation with the leader of the House
of Representatives (majority or minority leader, as the
case may be) of the Democratic Party, who shall serve as vice
chairman of the Commission;
(3) 2 members shall be appointed by the senior member of the
Senate leadership of the Democratic Party;
(4) 2 members shall be appointed by the senior member of the
leadership of the House of Representatives of the Republican
Party;
(5) 2 members shall be appointed by the senior member of the
Senate leadership of the Republican Party; and
(6) 2 members shall be appointed by the senior member of the
leadership of the House of Representatives of the Democratic
Party.

(b) Qualifications; Initial Meeting.--
(1) Political party affiliation.--Not more than 5 members of
the Commission shall be from the same political party.
(2) Nongovernmental appointees.--An individual appointed to
the Commission may not be an officer or employee of the Federal
Government or any State or local government.
(3) Other qualifications.--It is the sense of Congress that
individuals appointed to the Commission should be prominent
United States citizens, with national recognition and
significant depth of experience in such professions as
governmental service, law enforcement, the armed services, law,
public administration, intelligence gathering, commerce
(including aviation matters), and foreign affairs.
(4) Deadline for appointment.--All members of the Commission
shall be appointed on or before December 15, 2002.
(5) Initial meeting.--The Commission shall meet and begin
the operations of the Commission as soon as practicable.

[Snow]

8. Do you suppose Bush approved Deep Throat being a member? -eom-

[zaj]

9. Norequest for a FISA warrant was ever denied...

While digging around on this subject, I also found out that another reason why Ashcroft and the RNC's argument that Gorelick's memo re: the "wall" is total BS.

According to the General Accounting Office, "FBI Intelligence Investigations, Coordination Within Justice on Counterintelligence Criminal Matters is Limited." Report GAO-01-780, July 2001, at 3.

"no surveillance or search request has been denied by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court"

That's right, not before Gorelick's 1995 memo... and not since Gorelick's 1995 memo.

The supposed "higher wall" that Gorelick's memo supposedly created is utter BS.

The wall wasn't any higher at all.

No request was EVER denied. NOT EVER. NOT ONCE.

The entire charade is another attempt at spin control by attacking someone instead of facing the ugly facts. Creating a bogus news story to distract from the real news.

[Snow]

11. Nice work! Too bad

the news media won't make use if that. Or someone. Maybe one of our deomcratic attack dogs?

[mulethree]

12. link to 1995 memo

http://www.nationalreview.com/document/document_1995_gorelick_memo.pdf

"No request was EVER denied. NOT EVER. NOT ONCE"

The impression I get is that agents needed to be very very very certain that they didn't submit a request that might get denied, like their career depended on it. Kind of like the wall was a high voltage prison fence where they put a normal fence 5 feet in front of it with big danger signs on it.

Gorelick's memo is basically - heres how we are being extra careful in these few cases. It didn't appear to be policy-setting for all future investigations.

I think theres reasons why 2/3 of the committee should not be there on conflict of interest basis, but I don't think this memo is one of them.

[mulethree]

10. Incest - none of them are independent

http://www.globalfreepress.com/article.pl?sid=03/07/18/1626242

well maybe a few, but not enough to matter