And the truth continues to come out. The NY Times today reported that documents released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence shows that top Democrats including Nancy Pelosi were briefed on water boarding and other interrogation techniques.

From NY Times:

The new chart of briefings, prepared by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, was the first full listing of briefings to members of Congress and their aides. It appears to call into question the longstanding assertion of Speaker Nancy Pelosi that she was never told that waterboarding and other methods were actually used, only that the Central Intelligence Agency believed they were legal and could be used.
The chart said that at the first briefing, on Sept. 4, 2002, Ms. Pelosi, then the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, and Representative Porter J. Goss, the committee’s Republican chairman, were given a “description” of the interrogation methods that “had been employed” against a prisoner, Abu Zubaydah.

I love how even the NY Times shows that she lied about only being briefed once. Admittedly later in the article they did include Pelosi's statement about the documents that they thought cast doubt about the documents. In reality her statement only illistrates that she is lying.

“Of the 40 C.I.A. briefings to Congress reported recently in the press, I was only briefed once, on Sept. 4, 2002, as I have previously stated.” She said she was “briefed on interrogation techniques the administration was considering using in the future” and that the techniques were determined to be legal.
Ms. Pelosi also noted that Leon E. Panetta, the director of the C.I.A., had warned lawmakers that the descriptions of briefings provided in the new report were based on notes and recollections of C.I.A. officers. “In the end, you and the committee will have to determine whether this information is an accurate summary of what actually happened,” Mr. Panetta wrote to several members of Congress.

The list of briefings contains 40 different times that congress was briefed on the interrogations? And you were only briefed once? I don't think so Ms. Pelosi. Even if the list is compiled from C.I.A. officers do you really think that they made up 39 other times that they reported to congress? I love how even Ms. Pelosi's own statement reveals her own lie.

As for me, interrogate the crap out of those SOB's. They are doing much worse to our guys over in Iraq and Afghanistan. If we can save American lives by making one terrorist a little uncomfortable. Then by all means make him uncomfortable! I don't think that we should be cutting of body parts or anything but anything that doesn't do any permanent physical harm should be allowed.

An Open Letter to Speaker Pelosi

On Friday August 1, 2008, at 11:23 a.m., your Democrat majority in the House of Representatives adjourned the House for five full weeks.

House Republicans believe that Congress should not go on vacation until we take action to lower gas and energy prices for struggling American families.

For the last two months we and our House Republican colleagues have used every tool at our disposal to try and get you and your Democrat majority to vote on legislation to lower gas and energy prices by expanding environmentally sound domestic production of oil and natural gas, improving energy efficiency, and encouraging the development of alternative energy technologies.

Many of the proposals we have asked you and your Democrat majority to allow us to vote on are bipartisan proposals that we believe would enjoy the support of a majority of the Members of the Congress. Yet because you and your Democrat Leadership personally oppose these proposals, you are not allowing them to come up for a vote. This past Sunday, you even told George Stephanopoulos that you will never allow this vote to occur ….

In protest of you and your Democrat majority not allowing an up or down vote on producing more American energy, we and our House Republican colleagues were prepared to take to the floor on Friday, August 1, 2008, and speak to the nation. Rather than allowing that to happen you and your Democrat majority adjourned the House, turned off the television cameras, shut off the microphones and turned out the lights. Nearly 50 House Republicans remained on the floor of the House in defiance speaking to those citizens gathered in the galleries and to the media.

Today we have again returned to the Capitol to continue speaking to the thousands of Americans from all across our country who are visiting the Capitol. We would have preferred if instead we were joined by our colleagues to have a true debate on this issue that ended in an up or down vote.

We think it is unconscionable that Congress has gone on vacation before we have addressed the high gas prices that are crippling our economy and hurting millions of families. We are asking that you reconvene the House from your five-week vacation and schedule a vote on legislation to increase American energy production. Let us be clear, we are not asking for a guaranteed outcome, just the chance to vote.

Signed by: John Boehner, Republican Leader; Roy Blunt, Republican Whip; Adam Putnam, Republican Conference Chairman; Eric Cantor, Chief Deputy Whip; and Members of the House Republican Conference

Shoebox from No Runny Eggs posted a great video about Democrats and gas prices, though his commentary on our nominee is a bit off. I'm not a big fan of using this ad for McCain, as I detest the way Democrats are trying to make this about President Bush instead of the real candidate. I don't think we should run a shadow campaign against Pelosi. House Republicans however should be touting this ad from here until November:

Via Freedom Project, here's a nice video reminder about how Democrats voted to raise your taxes by more than $3000 on average per family:

Hank Johnson (D-GA) spent quite a bit of money paying the rent for his campaign headquarters. His rent was so large, that I suggest he go after his landlord for price gouging. The problem is, he is his landlord, and he's the one charging himself a huge sum of cash. The Majority Accountability Project has done some research and chronicles the ethically-shady move:

U.S. Representative Henry “Hank” Johnson, D-GA, pays more in rent for his campaign office than any other member of Georgia’s Congressional delegation, including the Peach state’s two U.S. Senators - a distinction made more dubious by the fact Johnson’s landlord is the law firm that bears his name.

A Majority Accountability Project (majorityap.com) review of the freshman Democrat’s financial disclosure forms, filed with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC), found that Johnson began paying Johnson and Johnson Law Group in Decatur, GA, $1500 a month in “rent for campaign headquarters” in April, 2007. Johnson practiced civil and criminal law at Johnson and Johnson for more than 30 years, where he was a partner with his wife, Mereda Davis Johnson.

A search of business records in the state of Georgia revealed that Johnson and Johnson Law Group was dissolved October 17, 2007, but Johnson again paid the firm a month later.

Johnson's using funds from his campaign, funds contributed by average folks, to line his own pockets. Johnson replaced Democrat Cynthia McKinney, and it's not looking like his ethics are any better. Culture of Corruption?