The Debate and Discussion crowd over at the Something Awful Forums have decided to start merging their ongoing discussion of political scandals into the Ultimate Scandal Megathread, to try to keep track of what is going on.
Their total so far : 17, and more coming every day.
Click below for the list.
Firing of US Attorneys for possibly political reasons
(http://forums.somethingawful.com/...)
Summary: 8 US Attorneys were fired, this normally wouldn't be a big deal but some of them were investigating various issues of possible corruption. There have been some contradictions that have been brought to light as to why these people were targeted. Some cite poor performance reviews, this has turned out to be false for the most part.
The Politicization of the DOJ's civil Rights Division
(http://forums.somethingawful.com/...)
Summary: This is just breaking so not too much is known just yet. Basically what's going on is that non-political people are replaced by political people who have no experience in Civil rights. It should be noted that the Civil Rights Division also investigates things like voter disenfranchisement.
The truth behind how Pat Tillman died
(http://forums.somethingawful.com/...)
Summary: "Maj. Gen. Stanley McChrystal warned that it was "highly possible" the Army Ranger was killed by friendly fire. McChrystal made it clear his warning should be conveyed to the president." This information either wasn't conveyed, or was ignored. The family is pissed that his death was used as a political point when it was found that his death was caused by friendly fire.
Possible breaches of the Hatch Act
(http://forums.somethingawful.com/...)
Summary: A meeting was held to discuss how to use the GSA (General Services Administration) into buying power advantage for the Republican Party.
Condi being asked to answer questions about the Fabricated Niger Claim
(http://www.oversight.house.gov/...) - No official thread yet
Summary: Waxman is asking for more information about the Niger claims, one of the key things to note about this letter is "Under the Bush Administration, several agencies followed a policy of not responding to minority party requests."
Use of external E-mail Servers by Karl Rove and Others
(http://forums.somethingawful.com/...)
Summary: Karl Rove and other staffers have used external e-mail servers supplied by the RNC to communicate. This is a direct violation of the Presidential Records Act of 1978. One point of interest is that this also might have some ties to communication between people in the White House and Jack Abramoff.
Gonzales Child Sex Scandal
(http://www.inteldaily.com/...)
Summary: A bunch of kids (72 reported incidents) that were in juvie in TX were touched by staff at the institutions. No charges have been brought against anyone and only one person has been fired.
The White House is being accused of doctoring climate reports
(http://www.nytimes.com/...)
Summary:A House committee released documents Monday that showed hundreds of instances in which a White House official who was previously an oil industry lobbyist edited government climate reports to play up uncertainty of a human role in global warming or play down evidence of such a role.
FDA and USDA not doing their jobs
(http://news.yahoo.com/...)
(http://news.yahoo.com/...)
Summary: Bad pet food and meat not being inspected. The biggest thing with the meat not being inspected, besides being kind of scary, could possibly have broken laws reguarding meat inspection.
Gonzales, Mueller Admit FBI Broke Law
(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...)
Summary: It has been acknowledged that the FBI broke the law to secretly pry out personal information about Americans. It has been found out that agents of the FBI have demanded personal data on people without offical authorization. Typically they would make the demands under the guise of national security and the patriot act.
NSA warrantless surveillance Controversy
(http://en.wikipedia.org/...)
Summary: This hasn't floated around in the news too much lately. The NSA has been running surveillance programs on US Citizens without going through the proper channels. AGAG stated that the program would not be reauthorized by the president and any future dealings would be conducted through proper channels. However, it was found to be illegal under FISA as well as unconstitutional under the First and Fourth Amendments ~6 months prior to AGAG's statement.
Bush may have obstructed the investigations into scandals by denying security clearance to investigators
(http://forums.somethingawful.com/...)
Summary: The title kind of says it all.
CIA Leak
(http://forums.somethingawful.com/...)
Summary: Libby has already been charged on various counts and reguarded as a fall guy to the outing of covert agent Valerie Plame. The investigation as to who is responsible is still on going.
Prisoners tortured into False Confessions
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/...)
Summary: Torture has been used to extract information from prisoners. Most of this information is proving to be false. The reason this is mentioned is that torture is a direct violation of the Geneva Conventions which the United States is a signing member, as well as international law.
Judge rules that forest rules were illegally changed
(http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/...)
Summary: A federal district judge ruled Friday that the Bush administration illegally rewrote rules for managing 192 million acres of federally owned forests and grasslands in 2005 and must consider the environmental impact of its plan before offering another policy blueprint.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton in San Francisco suspends the forest rules the administration adopted Jan. 5, 2005. Hamilton said the government did not adequately assess the policy's impact on wildlife and the environment and did not give sufficient public notice.
Walter Reed Scandal
(http://forums.somethingawful.com/...)
(http://forums.somethingawful.com/...)
Summary: Conditions are pretty bad for some of our returning vets who have been at the Walter Reed military hospitol. Possible causes of this are a direct result of private contractors.
Interior Department appointee altered reports to favor businesses
(http://www.chron.com/...)
Summary: Julie MacDonald, a civil engineer with no natural science background, tries to alter scientists reports so that the report minimizes the impacts of development on wildlife habitat. She may have also used her position to give confidential information to private businesses.