For President

Under Duress, Body Language Speaks Volumes By Dana Milbank

[T]his much could be seen watching the tape of NBC’s broadcast

during Bush’s 14-minute pre-sunrise interview, in which he stood unprotected by the usual lectern. The president was a blur of

blinks, taps, jiggles, pivots and shifts. Bush has always been an active man, but standing with Lauer and the serene, steady

first lady, he had the body language of a man wishing urgently to be elsewhere. [mjh: need to go to the restroom?]

The fidgeting clearly corresponded to the questioning. … Bush blinked 24 times in his answer. … Bush

blinked 23 times and hitched his trousers up by the belt. … Bush blinked 37 times in a single answer — along with a

lick of the lips, three weight shifts and some serious foot jiggling.

Dead giveaway – smh.com.au

Another

supposed sign of lying is rapid blinking. It’s true that when we become aroused or our mind is racing, there’s a corresponding

increase in our blinking rate. Our normal rate is about 20 blinks per minute, but it can increase to four or five times that figure when

we feel under pressure. When liars are searching for an answer to an awkward question, their thought processes speed up. In this kind of

situation, lying is frequently associated with blinking. But we need to remember that there are times when people have a high blinking

rate, not because they’re lying, but because they’re under pressure. Also, there are times when liars show normal rates.

Fidgeting and awkward hand movements are also thought to be signs of deceit ….

How the Republicans Let It Slip Away By David Ignatius

What’s interesting is that most of these wounds are self-inflicted. They draw a picture of a party that, for all its

seeming dominance, isn’t prepared to be the nation’s governing party. The hard right, which is the soul of the modern

GOP, would rather be ideologically pure than successful. Governing requires making compromises and getting your hands

dirty, but the conservative purists disdain those qualities. …

Bush and the Republicans had a chance after 2004 to become the

country’s natural governing party. They controlled the White House and both houses of Congress. The Democrats were in utter disarray,

leaderless and idea-less. When Bush took the podium in January to deliver his soaring second inaugural address, the future seemed to

belong to the Republicans.

Bush squandered this opportunity by falling into the trap that has snared the modern GOP — of playing

to the base rather than to the nation. The Republicans behave as if the country agrees with them on issues, when that

demonstrably isn’t so. …

A CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll in late August found 54 percent describing themselves as pro-

choice and only 38 percent as pro-life, roughly the same percentages as a decade ago.

Knowing that the FBI and CIA can already spy on us

— without telling us and while sharing their discoveries — doesn’t make me any more enthusiastic about adding DIA to the alphabet

soup.

Remember what Martha Stewart went to prison for? For lying to a federal agent (but not while under oath). Now, even if the

agent doesn’t identify himself or herself as such, you’ll probably go to prison if you don’t tell them everything they want to know.

Welcome to Duhbya’s Amerika! mjh

Request for Domestic Covert Role Is Defended By Walter Pincus,

Washington Post Staff Writer

As part of the expanding counterterrorism role being taken on by the Pentagon, Defense Intelligence

Agency covert operatives need to be able to approach potential sources in the United States without identifying themselves

as government agents, George Peirce, the DIA’s general counsel, said yesterday.

“This is not about spying on

Americans,” Peirce said…. [mjh: of course, it is]

The CIA and the FBI already have such

authority, he added, and the DIA needs it “to develop critical leads” because “there is more than enough work for all of

us to do.”

The legislative proposal has been controversial on Capitol Hill and has drawn criticism from groups concerned

with privacy and civil liberties.

Cal Thomas

say “not in time of war,” knowing that we are in an endless war, guaranteeing the Republicans, and the Radical Right that controls the

GOP, power for a generation or more. Or, so they thought a year ago. The War President has become the Disaster President and the

Republican monolith shows huge cracks. mjh

Cal Thomas

Democrats think that by launching their vast left-wing

political and media conspiracy against Tom DeLay and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist … they will elbow their way back into power.

That strategy occasionally worked for Democrats in the past, but not in a time of war.