The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is the main investigative committee in the U.S. House of Representatives. It has authority to investigate the subjects within the Committee’s legislative jurisdiction as well as “any matter” within the jurisdiction of the other standing House Committees.
Tues. Feb. 26 at 10 am the full Committee will hold a hearing entitled “Electronic Records Preservation at the White House.”  According to the Committee website,  the witnesses expected to testify include:

Did White House Lie About Loss of Five Million Emails?, by Damon Poeter CMP Channel (03 October 2007).

When Congress asked about 5 million executive branch e-mails that went missing, a White House lawyer pointed the finger at an outside IT contractor. The only problem? No such IT contractor exists, according to sources close to the investigation of a possible violation of the Federal Records and Presidential Records acts.

The article includes a "Timeline of Events in White House E-mail Scandal."

Presidential Records Act Stymied in Senate; ALAWASH Urges Action, Library Journal Academic Newswire, October 2, 2007.

Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) has placed a bill that would rescind provisions of a controversial executive order restricting the release of presidential records on hold without explanation. Bunning said that "the president ought to have the right to withhold any records he chooses." The American Library Association's Washington Office (ALAWASH) noted that "the records of the highest elected public office in the country, the President of the United States, belong to the people and are evidence of government activity."

Federal Judge Invalidates Order Allowing Former Presidents to Withhold Records, National Coalition of History, October 2nd, 2007.

On October 1, a federal district court judge gave historians and researchers a partial, but significant victory in a lawsuit questioning the legality of President George W. Bush’s Executive Order (EO) 13233, which broadened the rights of presidents and former-presidents to withhold federal records from the public. The judge struck down the section of the EO that allows a former president to indefinitely delay the release of records. However, Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly did not rule on the constitutionality of the Executive Order itself, narrowly crafting her decision to address only specific provisions in the order.

Can you hear the sound of my head exploding over the intertubes? Anyone got a twist-tie?!

First there was the news over the weekend that Congress passed the Protect America Act of 2007 which changes the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and provides new powers to the National Security Agency to monitor communications that enter the United States and involve foreigners who are the subjects of a national security investigation (read the FAQ; listen to analysis from Glenn Greenwald, Marjorie Cohn, and Amy Goodman).

But now I just read that Democrats in the House and Senate have introduced resolutions calling for the censure (non-binding of course) of President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales for misleading the country in pursuing war with Iraq and for undermining the rule of law.

How can that be that the same Congress that would give National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales joint authority to approve the monitoring of calls and e-mails, rather than the 11-member Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (basically making legal the warrentless domestic spy program) could be the same legislative body that calls for censure of top administration officials including the Attorney General who will have the increased authority to undermine the rule of law?!

[Thanks PS Mueller!]

The American Presidency Project

This online archive, maintained by the University of California at Santa Barbara, contains over 72,000 documents related to the U.S. Presidency.

The searchable database includes:

•The Messages and Papers of the Presidents: Washington - Taft (1789-1913)

•The Public Papers of the Presidents:
Hoover to Bush (1929-1993)

•The Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents:
Clinton - G.W. Bush (1993-2007)

These documents include Executive Orders and Proclamations, State of the Union Addresses, Inaugural Addresses, press conferences, and much more.

Despite a huge DOJ documents dump to the Committee on the Judiciary concerning the US Attorney firings, it's come to light that the White House is now abstaining from using the official White House email system. Crooks and Liars has more and points out that this subverts the Presidential Records Act which mandates thorough record-keeping, and ironically, as Josh Marshall has pointed out, means that much of this "official" communication can not be shielded by executive privilege. Read on...

The House Judiciary Committee, chaired by John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), has launched an investigation challenging repeated assertions by President Bush that he need not enforce aspects of laws he deems unconstitutional. "The signing statements amount to a line-item veto, according to critics, and frustrate the legislative branch by not giving lawmakers the opportunity to override a presidential veto."

Interestingly, the article says that a collection of Bush's signing statements is not "readily accessible to lawmakers or the public," but check out this remix by Coherent Babble. This site gives an index and full-text from 2001 - present scraped from whitehouse.gov and gpoaccess.gov (has anyone noticed gpoaccess' terribly broken site search? I sent it in @ Aug, 2006 :-| ). Or if you want them farther back in time, UC Santa Barbara's Presidency Project has all the signing statements from Hoover to G.W. Bush -- as well as Public Papers, State of the Union addresses, inaugural & radio addresses, fireside chats, news conferences, executive orders, proclamations, debates, convention speeches and party platforms to boot!

Anyway, read the rest of the article:

House Panel Convenes Hearings on Bush's 'Signing Statements'

[Thanks Crooks and Liars!]

Government Executive posted an article on President Bush's call for the creation of a "Civilian Reserve Corps" "...to ease the burden on the military...". It was mentioned in his State of the Union address, Tuesday.

"Such a corps would function much like our military reserve. It would ease the burden on the Armed Forces by allowing us to hire civilians with critical skills to serve on missions abroad when America needs them. It would give people across America who do not wear the uniform a chance to serve in the defining struggle of our time. "

There are many ways a person can serve his country. Federal Depository Librarians, for example. Or just an ordinary citizen taking up an issue, commenting on Rulemaking, and so on. Serving or supporting the military often is made out to be the primary way "to serve your country' but it's not. The military is just one of many --and certainly has the greatest sacrifice and risk. What would happen if we mobilized a "Citizen's Government Oversight Corps", asking people to serve 3-4 years engaging in executive and legislative branch activities?

I wonder if there are any implications of international military "law" involving civilians in harms way. If your adversary is using the tactic of terrorism, the theatre is anywhere. We already have a great deal of commercial interests involved in supporting military. This is just not enough, certainly in our present foreign adventures, and this initiative confirms our military's lack of resources to accomplish all its aims (at the direction of the current executive). I wonder where this initiative will go and whether it is wise.

Two Leaders: both were presidents. One was a leader, and the other was a dictator.

Gerald R. FordGerald Ford was the only president who was not elected. He was appointed vice president by Richard Nixon when Spiro Agnew resigned in the fall 1973. He became president by default when Nixon resigned in August 1974.

Gerald Ford is undoubtedly one of my favorite U. S. Presidents. He was an "every man" who took the reigns of the nation during the difficult time following Vietnam and the resignation of President Nixon. The leadership skills of this average man helped to heal many of our nation's wounds. Some of us wondered why he pardoned Nixon, yet perhaps it was this act of forgiveness that allowed our nation to heal and reunite.

By the bicentennial celebration in 1976, citizens were once again proud to be American. In a pub the evening of July 3, 1776 the band began playing "It's a Grand Old Flag," and the entire audience began singing. One man in our group had escaped from Eastern Europe the previous year, and was concerned the police would arrest us for that display. We were happy to inform him that in America we could celebrate our Nation's birthday, and not fear about repercussions from our government.

The Federal Government has designated Jan. 2 as an official day of mourning for former President Gerald R. Ford. Flags are flying at half-mast and most government offices will be closed on January 2nd. Ford's funeral service will be televised that day.

Read a biography of President Ford at The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum.
The Presidential Library and Museum recently posted a section of News, Special Events & Featured Pages on their home page.
Three image galleries contain 78 public domain photographs that chronicle the nation's 38th President.
No special permission or usage fees are required, but the library would like you to use the credit line included in the pop-up text for each photo.

Remembering Gerald R. Ford, July 14, 1913 - December 26, 2006 is a FirstGov.gov page with links to information about the former president.

Saddam Hussein
The Trial of Saddam Hussein at the Law Library of Congress provides essential information about the ongoing trials of the deceased Mr. Hussein, who was executed on December 30, 2006, for killing 148 men and boys in Dujail in 1982. .

The leader of Iraq from 1979 to 2003, Hussein gained infamy during the 1988 chemical weapon attack on Iraqui Kurds, as well as for his brutal tratment of his own citizens. A U. S. Department of State report, Saddam's Chemical Weapons Campaign: Halabja, March 16, 1988 descibes the mass murder which occured in the city of Halabja in 1988.

The White House issued a press release, President Bush's Statement on Execution of Saddam Hussein. Previously, the White House compiled theApparatus of Lies: Saddam’s Disinformation and Propaganda, 1990-2003 which chronicled the alleged attrocities of the Iraqui dictator for over a decade.

Saddam Hussein's Capture: One Year Later is a feature article in DefendAmerica the United States Department of Defense Official Website on the War on Terrorism.