Eeyores news and view

ABC TURNS PROGRAMMING OVER TO OBAMA; NEWS TO BE ANCHORED FROM INSIDE WHITE HOUSE
Tue Jun 16 2009 08:45:10 ET
On the night of June 24, the media and government become one, when ABC turns its programming over to President Obama and White House officials to push government run health care -- a move that has ignited an ethical firestorm!
Highlights on the agenda:
ABCNEWS anchor Charlie Gibson will deliver WORLD NEWS from the Blue Room of the White House.
The network plans a primetime special -- 'Prescription for America' -- originating from the East Room, exclude opposing voices on the debate.

Late Monday night, Republican National Committee Chief of Staff Ken McKay fired off a complaint to the head of ABCNEWS:
Dear Mr. Westin:
As the national debate on health care reform intensifies, I am deeply concerned and disappointed with ABC's astonishing decision to exclude opposing voices on this critical issue on June 24, 2009. Next Wednesday, ABC News will air a primetime health care reform “town hall” at the White House with President Barack Obama. In addition, according to an ABC News report, GOOD MORNING AMERICA, WORLD NEWS, NIGHTLINE and ABC’s web news “will all feature special programming on the president’s health care agenda.” This does not include the promotion, over the next 9 days, the president’s health care agenda will receive on ABC News programming.
Today, the Republican National Committee requested an opportunity to add our Party's views to those of the President's to ensure that all sides of the health care reform debate are presented. Our request was rejected. I believe that the President should have the ability to speak directly to the America people. However, I find it outrageous that ABC would prohibit our Party's opposing thoughts and ideas from this national debate, which affects millions of ABC viewers.
In the absence of opposition, I am concerned this event will become a glorified infomercial to promote the Democrat agenda. If that is the case, this primetime infomercial should be paid for out of the DNC coffers. President Obama does not hold a monopoly on health care reform ideas or on free airtime. The President has stated time and time again that he wants a bipartisan debate. Therefore, the Republican Party should be included in this primetime event, or the DNC should pay for your airtime.
Respectfully,
Ken McKay Republican National Committee Chief of Staff

ABCNEWS Senior Vice President Kerry Smith on Tuesday responded to the RNC complaint, saying it contained 'false premises':
"ABCNEWS prides itself on covering all sides of important issues and asking direct questions of all newsmakers -- of all political persuasions -- even when others have taken a more partisan approach and even in the face of criticism from extremes on both ends of the political spectrum. ABCNEWS is looking for the most thoughtful and diverse voices on this issue.
"ABCNEWS alone will select those who will be in the audience asking questions of the president. Like any programs we broadcast, ABC News will have complete editorial control. To suggest otherwise is quite unfair to both our journalists and our audience."
http://www.drudgereport.com/flashaot.htm

Iran rules out annulment, Tehran crowds gather
EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters coverage is now subject to an Iranian ban on foreign media leaving the office to report, film or take pictures in Tehran.
By Parisa Hafezi and Fredrik Dahl
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's top legislative body on Tuesday ruled out annulling a disputed presidential poll that has prompted the biggest street protests since the 1979 Islamic revolution, but said it was prepared for a partial recount.
In what appeared to be a first concession by authorities to the protest movement, the 12-man Guardian Council said it was ready to re-tally votes in the poll, in which hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the runaway winner.
But the powerful Council rejected reformist calls to annul Friday's election, which set off swift-moving political turmoil, riveting attention on the world's fifth biggest oil exporter, locked in a nuclear dispute with the West.
State television said the "main agents" in post-election unrest had been arrested with explosives and guns. It gave no further details.
U.S. President Barack Obama, who has sought to engage Iran and asked its leadership to "unclench its fist," said he was deeply troubled by the post-election violence and that protesters who had taken to the streets had inspired the world.
Supporters of Mirhossein Mousavi, outraged at what they viewed as a stolen election, had planned another big rally on Tuesday, even though seven people were killed on Monday on the fringes of a vast march through the streets of Tehran.
But state television showed live pictures of thousands of Ahmadinejad supporters, some waving Iranian flags, gathering at the Vali-ye Asr Square before any Mousavi supporters arrived, and authorities banned the opposition rally.
Mousavi urged his supporters to stay away from the square "to protect lives" and avoid possible confrontation with security forces and Ahmadinejad backers. It was not clear if the call would be heeded.
Further protests, especially if they are maintained on the same scale, would be a direct challenge to the authorities who have kept a tight grip on dissent since the U.S.-backed shah was overthrown in 1979 after months of demonstrations.
JOURNALISTS BANNED
Illustrating Iran's sensitivity to world opinion, authorities on Tuesday banned foreign journalists from leaving their offices to cover street protests.
"No journalist has permission to report or film or take pictures in the city," a Culture Ministry official told Reuters.
On the world stage, the United States and its European allies have been trying to persuade Iran to halt nuclear work that could be used to make an atomic bomb. Iran says its program is purely for peaceful electricity generation.
France, Germany and Britain have led an EU campaign to persuade Iran to clarify the election results, but Iran on Tuesday summoned a senior Czech diplomat, representing the EU, to protest against "interventionist and insulting" EU statements about the election, the ISNA news agency said.
A spokesman for the Guardian Council, which groups clerics and Islamic law experts as a constitutional watchdog, said that it was "ready to recount the disputed ballot boxes claimed by some candidates, in the presence of their representatives."
"It is possible that there may be some changes in the tally after the recount," spokesman Abbasali Kadkhodai said. "Based on the law, the demand of those candidates for the cancellation of the vote, this cannot be considered," he told state television.
In northern Tehran, a Mousavi stronghold, his supporters gathered in small groups, wearing wristbands in his green campaign colors, amid heavy traffic, residents said.
"We only want cancellation of the election result," said one of them, Ali Akbar Mohtashamipour.
Dozens of young supporters of Mousavi, holding pictures of him, walked toward the state television building in northern Tehran, residents said. Car drivers honked their horns in support and passengers flashed victory signs.
Despite the turmoil at home, Ahmadinejad traveled to Russia for a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
The group, which includes Russia and China, congratulated him on his win.
MONDAY VIOLENCE
Iran's English-language Press TV said seven people were killed and several wounded at the end of Monday's rally -- a mainly peaceful gathering attended by many tens of thousands -- when "thugs" tried to attack a military post in central Tehran.
An Iranian photographer at the scene had said Islamic militiamen opened fire when people in the crowd attacked a post of the Basij religious militia. He said one person was killed and many wounded.
The Basij militia is a volunteer paramilitary force fiercely loyal to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on all matters of state and replaced revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini when he died 20 years ago.
During the past three days of violence, police have accused "bandits" of setting buses on fire, breaking windows of banks and other buildings, and damaging public property.
Iran's influential speaker of parliament, Ali Larijani, a conservative who has been critical of Ahmadinejad in the past, condemned Sunday's attack on students at Tehran University, which they blamed on the Basij militia and plainclothes police.
"They (attackers) have attacked dormitories and brutally broken legs, heads, arms and thrown some of the students out of the windows," Mousavi said, according to his website.
There have been widespread arrests across the country since the election protests broke out. ISNA said on Tuesday that around 100 people were arrested in unrest near a university in the southern city of Shiraz.
Leading Iranian reformist Mohammad Ali Abtahi, a former vice-president who backed pro-reform candidate Mehdi Karoubi in the election, was arrested early on Tuesday, his office said.
Gunfire was heard in districts of northern Tehran late on Monday and residents said there were peaceful pro-Mousavi protests in the cities of Rasht, Orumiyeh, Zahedan, and Tabriz.
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSEVA14340720090616?sp=true

So much for transparency, it was a lie his lips were moving.
Obama blocks list of visitors to White House
Taking Bush's position, administration denies msnbc.com request for logs
The Obama administration is fighting to block access to names of visitors to the White House, taking up the Bush administration argument that a president doesn't have to reveal who comes calling to influence policy decisions.
Despite President Barack Obama's pledge to introduce a new era of transparency to Washington, and despite two rulings by a federal judge that the records are public, the Secret Service has denied msnbc.com's request for the names of all White House visitors from Jan. 20 to the present. It also denied a narrower request by the nonpartisan watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which sought logs of visits by executives of coal companies.
CREW says it will file a lawsuit Tuesday against the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Secret Service.
"We are deeply disappointed," said CREW attorney Anne L. Weismann, "that the Obama administration is following the same anti-transparency policy as the Bush administration when it comes to White House visitor records. Refusing to let the public know who visits the White House is not the action of a pro-transparency, pro-accountability administration."
Groups that advocate open government have argued that it's vital to know the names of White House visitors, who may have an outsized influence on policy matters. The visitor logs have been released in only a few isolated cases, most notably records of visits by lobbyist Jack Abramoff to the Bush White House, and in the "filegate" investigation of the Clinton White House.
The Obama administration is arguing that the White House visitor logs are presidential records — not Secret Service agency records, which would be subject to the Freedom of Information Act. The administration ought to be able to hold secret meetings in the White House, "such as an elected official interviewing for an administration position or an ambassador coming for a discussion on issues that would affect international negotiations," said Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt.
These same arguments, made by the Bush administration, were rejected twice by a federal judge. The visitor logs are created by the Secret Service and maintained by the Secret Service, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth ruled in 2007 and again this January. CREW had requested records of visits to the Bush White House, as well as the residence of Vice President Dick Cheney, by leaders of Religious Right organizations.
The Bush administration appealed Lamberth's decision, and the Obama administration has continued to press that appeal.
"It is the government's position," the Secret Service wrote last week to msnbc.com in denying access to the visitor logs, "that the vast majority, if not all, of the records ... are not agency records subject to the FOIA. Rather, these records are records governed by the Presidential Records Act" and "remain under the exclusive legal custody and control of the White Office and the Office of the Vice President. After the resolution of this litigation, we will respond further to your request if necessary."
The visitor records are kept in two databases:
Worker and Visitor Entry System (WAVES). This Secret Service database includes information submitted to the Secret Service about individuals who have a planned visit to the White House. This information includes the name of the pass holder submitting the request, the date of the request, the time and location of the planned visit and the nature of the visit or the person to be visited. This information may be updated with the actual date and time of entry and exit. Msnbc.com also requested lists submitted to the Secret Service of groups or delegations of visitors with planned visits to the White House.
Access Control Records System (ACES). This Secret Service database includes information generated when a pass holder, worker or visitor swipes a permanent or temporary pass over an electronic reader at entrances or exits. This information includes the name of the visitor, the badge number, the post or location, and the date and time of entry or exit.
No private information requested
Msnbc.com excluded from its request any private information on the White House visitors. It asked that the Secret Service delete from the logs any dates of birth, Social Security numbers, and home addresses (other than city and state).
In addition, msnbc.com asked the Secret Service to exclude information on security precautions and the results of background checks on prospective visitors.
The Bush White House had taken several steps to close off access to the visitor logs, steps repeatedly rejected by the federal judge.
In May 2006, the Bush White House signed a memorandum of understanding with the Secret Service, declaring that the logs are agency records, under White House control.
In October 2006, CREW sought records of visits by nine religious leaders: James Dobson, Gary L. Bauer, Wendy Wright, Louis P. Sheldon, Andrea Lafferty, Paul Weyrich, Tony Perkins, Donald Wildmon and Jerry Falwell.
The Bush position was rejected in December 2007 by Judge Lamberth, a former federal prosecutor who was appointed to the bench by President Ronald Reagan. Lamberth gave the White House 20 days to hand over the public records. But CREW did not get the visitor logs.
In September 2008, Homeland Security said that it did not plan to release the visitor logs, claiming that the visitor logs were protected by the presidential communication privilege in the law.
Judge Lamberth ruled again, denying that claim on Jan. 9. The judge wrote that a simple list of visitors is not a communication at all, because it includes no details on the topics discussed during a meeting, and therefore is not protected by a presidential communication privilege.
The Bush administration appealed on Jan. 14, a week before the end of President Bush's term of office.
In late January and again in May, the Obama administration had opportunities to change course, when it filed papers in the appeals court, but stuck with the Bush position.
In February, the White House spokesman, LaBolt, told msnbc.com that the policy was under review. "We are reviewing our policy on access to visitor logs and related litigation involving the previous administration to determine how we can ensure that policymaking in this administration happens in an open and transparent way, and that we take appropriate measures to ensure that we are operating in a secure environment."
But last week, in denial letters to msnbc.com and CREW, the Secret Service continued to cite the Bush position.
Asked Monday whether the White House plans to continue to oppose release of the records, White House spokesman LaBot said the policy is still under review. He also cited a list of "the unprecedented steps the administration has taken to promote openness and transparency." These include instructing all agencies to adopt a presumption in favor of disclosure in Freedom of Information Act decisions, and overturning the practice of allowing other executives, aside from the president, to assert executive privilege to block access to an administration's records.
Unpersuaded was the attorney for the watchdog group CREW, which was formed in 2003 during the Bush administration to increase open government.
"It's great that President Obama made this commitment to transparency," attorney Weismann said. "But now you need to make good on it."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31373407/ns/politics-white_house/

Medvedev calls for new reserve currencies
YEKATERINBURG, Russia – Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says the world needs new reserve currencies.
Medvedev told a regional summit Tuesday that the creation of new reserve currencies in addition to the dollar is needed to stabilize global finances.
Medvedev has made the proposal before. It reflects both the Kremlin's push for greater international clout and a concern shared by other countries that soaring U.S. budget deficits could spur inflation and weaken the dollar.
Airing it at a summit meeting underlined the challenge to U.S. clout.
Medvedev spoke at a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which includes China and four Central Asian nations.
Later Tuesday he hosts a summit of the BRIC group of leading emerging economies — Brazil, Russia, India and China.
YEKATERINBURG, Russia (AP) — Russia played regional power broker Monday, hosting China and Central Asian nations for a summit that highlights the Kremlin's efforts to maintain clout in former Soviet territory and raise its profile in Afghanistan.
Moscow is expected to use the meeting of leaders from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to try to cement the six-nation group as a counterbalance to the U.S. presence in strategic Central Asia.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev opened the two-day meeting by saying the group would discuss the global financial crisis as well as the key issue the organization was created to address: regional security.
"Our organization has been created quite recently, but it has scored quite serious progress," he said.
Late Monday, Medvedev had what he called a "most productive and useful" meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and he promised that Russia will help Afghanistan create "an efficient political system."
"We are very thankful for the assistance that Russia has given Afghanistan," Karzai responded, "particularly over the last seven years, during this difficult period of history when we have been fighting terrorism."
At a meeting later with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, Medvedev said all nations needed to work together to fight terrorism — a call he repeated after he, Zardari and Karzai held a final meeting together.
"Many issues including the most difficult challenges our nations are facing today, such as terrorism and crime, can only be fought with collective efforts," Medvedev said. "If we can create efficient workable trilateral mechanism, that will benefit our nations."
The 8-year-old Shanghai Cooperation Organization is dominated by Russia and China and includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, with countries such as India, Iran and Pakistan holding observer status.
Medvedev also was expected to meet with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The Iranian leader postponed his arrival in this Ural Mountains city until Tuesday, according to the Iranian Embassy in Moscow, during protests in Iran over his bitterly disputed re-election.
Amid efforts by Washington and Moscow to improve strained ties, the summit will be watched for signs of stronger support from Russia and its neighbors for American-led operations in Afghanistan. That will be a signal of the depth of Russia's determination to mend fences with the United States at a time of warming relations between the two countries.
While Moscow and its neighbors have stressed solidarity with the West on the need for stability in Afghanistan, Kremlin critics say they have used their combined clout in the past to confound U.S. efforts.
In 2005, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization supported Uzbekistan's eviction of U.S. forces from a base supporting operations in Afghanistan. In February, Kyrgyzstan announced it would evict U.S. forces from their only other Central Asian base — a decision widely seen as influenced by Russia. U.S. officials have said there is still hope for a deal to keep use of the Manas base.
Karzai has appealed to Kyrgyzstan to let coalition forces continue using Manas, and the Afghan leader could meet his Kyrgyz counterpart for talks during the summit.
Kremlin foreign affairs adviser Sergei Prikhodko said Sunday that the Shanghai Cooperation Organization has seen "more transparency" from the administration of President Barack Obama on U.S. policy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan. "The niches of interaction with Western countries, including the U.S., may be widened," he said.
Russia and the Central Asian countries already have allowed the transport of non-lethal military supplies across their territory.
Prikhodko did not say what the nations might do to increase cooperation, but made it clear they want a greater say in resolving the situation in Afghanistan.
Prikhodko also said the leaders will discuss broader security issues and the global financial crisis, as well as the situation on the Korean peninsula, but that no major statement on North Korea's nuclear activity was expected.
The summit will be followed late Tuesday by the first full-fledged summit of BRIC, a group linking the emerging economies Brazil, Russia, India and China.
Medvedev may repeat Russia's call for a new global reserve currency to augment the dollar, but Russia's finance minister over the weekend suggested that the dollar would remain the currency of choice for years to come.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090616/ap_on_re_eu/eu_russia_summit_talks_7