Josh Marshall: "Last night we told you about Joe Allbaugh, Bush's longtime right-hand-man [search Funeralgate] who just opened a company to get into the Iraq contract business. Last week we told you about how Undersec. of Defense Doug Feith's old law firm, Feith & Zell, has now opened a new division specializing in hooking up clients with the sweetest deals in Iraq. Feith & Zell is now Zell, Goldberg & Co, though they haven't yet gotten around to changing their website address, which is still www.fandz.com. Well, there's more. Let me introduce you to the Iraqi International Law Group, a new outfit ready to help you secure contracts for rebuilding Iraq. And let me also introduce you to the head of IILG, Salem Chalabi. Name sound familiar? Related to Ahmed Chalabi? You bet: Salem's Ahmed's nephew. Now, Salem just got his website up online... [and] up until a couple days ago the site address was registered under the name of Marc Zell. Right, that Mark Zell, Feith's former law partner."

Prescott's Nazi financing, Iran-Contra, Iraqgate, Enron, Funeralgate, Carlyle Group and much, much more!

Chris Floyd reports from Moscow: "The car was no longer running. Behind the wheel...was the body of Peter K. Hartmann, regional manager for...SCI...based in Houston, is one of a handful of international corporations that have gobbled up the funeral industry in recent years, squeezing out independent operators in hardball takeovers...Just a few weeks before, SCI had settled a potentially explosive lawsuit that could have meant major trouble for the company and its co-defendant-a certain George W. Bush...SCI chairman Bob Waltrip had long been a major cash conduit for the George Bushes, father and son. So he just called on his old friend, Lil' Dubya-then the governor of Texas. Bush commiserated with his financial patron: 'Bobby, are those people still messing with you?' He turned the case over to his chief of staff, Joe Allbaugh. Over the next several weeks, Allbaugh...leaned on Funeral Commission chairman Eliza May to end the probe."

Jeb's administration has been rocked by one scandal after another - but none of them ever appear in the state's news media, thanks to incestuous business relations between the media owners and the Bush organized crime family. Here's a quick review of several of Jeb's scandals - Jeb's affair with Cynthia Henderson, Noelle Bush's repeated drug offenses, and Enron's theft of $334 million from Florida's pension fund. But that's just the tip of the iceberg - Jeb's lies about his relations with Ken Lay, his giving the finger to Clearwater protesters, Florida's criminal purge of LEGAL voters, the Menorah Gardens Funeralgate scandal, and on and on - just type "Jeb" into our .compass search engine for Jeb's complete criminal record.

"Were you wondering why, after nearly two weeks of constant media play on the nightly newscasts, the story of the malfeasance at the Georgia crematorium suddenly dropped from the national news radar? So was I. Then I found this story from the Houston Chronicle, and I began to wonder if this might be one of the reasons... of the over 90-odd bodies found rotting in the Georgia countryside, over two dozen of them came from SCI-owned facilities. Hmmmm. This comes on the heels of the news of similar outrages occurring at SCI facilities in Florida. And, of course, those of us who've been following the Bush family's Texas doings know about Funeralgate there." So writes Tamara Baker in American Politics Journal.

Neil Bush was last seen as a Director of the failed Silverado S&L, which cost taxpayers $1 BILLION - and earned Neil a "reprimand" from federal regulators. "What was Neil Bush doing in Jidda, Saudi Arabia, last week?... NEWSWEEK has learned the presidential sibling also had another agenda: recruiting Middle East investors for an educational-software firm that, industry sources say... Rivals say Bush's role in Ignite could help the firm cash in on a booming new market in 'digital learning'—in part due to a fresh infusion of funds for school districts from his brother's education bill. Ignite recently began marketing its first product—an American-history software program—to local school officials." We guarantee the Bush version of history will include no mention of Silverado, Iran-Contra, Funeralgate, the Stolen Election of 2000, or Enrongate!

The parallels between Enrongate and Funeralgate are stunning, and this page presents them all. For example, both scandals involve a Houston business owned by GW Bush friend and campaign contributor. Both involve unanswered questions about the company's relationship with George W. Bush. And in both cases, a central figure and key witness in investigation died from "apparent suicide." Now that Enrongate is front page news, will the media EVER notice its twin scandal, Funeralgate?

As reported in the Washington Post recently, George W. Bush used to be proud of his nickname for Kenneth Lay, "Kenny Boy." This familiarity certainly befits the position of a loyal long time family friend, visitor to the Lincoln Bedroom during one's father's White House occupation, business partner of one's brother, employer of many of one's father's former staffers, employer himself of former Enron execs, and largest contributing Bush Pioneer in his presidential campaign, but not a mere acquaintance, and best buddy to the Democratic Party that the Bush Super Spin Cycle is attempting to portray him now. This spin cycle needs a good wash first.

The night after Christmas, funeral home executive Peter Hartmann was found dead in his garage, seemingly a suicide. His death followed revelations that cemetaries owned by Hartmann's company, Service Corporation International (SCI), had "recycled" graves in its Palm Beach cemetaries. But Peter Hartmann was not responsible - these cemetaries were not even in his territory. "The weekend before Christmas, Hartmann was summoned to a meeting with Houston honchos, who'd flown in for an emergency strategy session on the Florida case. We don't know what was said at that meeting, what facts were revealed. We don't know what Hartmann was told to do, or not to do. We don't know what he agreed to do, or refused to do. We don't know if he indeed 'tried to do the right thing,' whatever that might have been. We just know that three days later, on the night after Christmas, the deputies found him dead, in a company car, in the garage on Sugar Pine Drive." So writes Chris Floyd in the Moscow Times.

"Blame-and-Bash-Clinton mentality is standard fare in today's consolidated corporate right-wing media. However, there are a few facts the partisans conveniently fail to mention. First, and most important, the worst terrorist attacks in our nation's history occurred during George W. Bush's occupation of the White House--after he had been in office for the better part of a year. Despite repeated warnings from Israel's Mossad and intelligence agencies from Egypt and Jordan weeks before the attacks, as well as urgent warnings early last spring from the Hart-Rudman commission, our current leader did absolutely nothing to prevent them." So writes Kim Sayers.

"A central figure in an investigation into the desecration of graves at two Florida Jewish cemeteries is dead of an apparent suicide, police said Thursday. Peter Hartmann, 45, was found dead late Wednesday in the garage of his parents' Boca Raton home, apparently from carbon monoxide poisoning. A car was running, police said, and the garage was full of smoke. Hartmann was the general manager of the Menorah Gardens Cemetery chain that had come under fire for allegedly digging up bodies without notifying their relatives and, in some cases, losing the remains of the deceased. Menorah Gardens is operated by Service Corporation International, one of the country's largest providers of funeral and cemetery services." SCI was the corporation in Bush's original Funeralgate scandal in Texas that has reared its ugly head again in Jeb's Florida. (Enter 'funeralgate' in our .Compass search engine for more).

"Remember how the GOPMedia buried the 'Funeralgate' story [in Texas] surrounding George W. Bush -- just as they buried the Air National Guard desertion story, the drug-use stories, the booze stories (until his DUIs started coming to light)? Remember how the main figure in that story, Eliza May, was convinced to settle out of court, rather than (horrors!) drag the sacred Bush name through the mud? Well, this is one story that won't stay buried. In fact, the chief figures in Funeralgate -- the fine folks running the Houston-based Service Corporation International funeral company – have been accused of similar gruesome stunts in (you guessed it) that other Bush fiefdom, the State of Florida!…George W. Bush was not able to avoid testifying under oath concerning the [original] Funeralgate case…even one of SCI's own lawyers contradicted Bush's sworn testimony, indicating the strong possibility that then-Governor Bush deliberately lied and misled while under oath."

George Orwell Bush has repeatedly attempted (and too often succeeded) in scrubbing public records that are embarrassing or worse (see http://democrats.com/display.cfm?id=220). But here's the most astonishing scrub we've encountered yet - Bush is trying to scrub the ENTIRE RECORD OF HIS 6 YEARS AS GOVERNOR OF TEXAS! How is this possible? Back in January, Bush snuck ALL of his records into Papa Bush's Presidential Library. And now he won't let Texas archivists anywhere near them. Why is he hiding them? Perhaps there's proof of crimes committed during Funeralgate - and perhaps there are many other scandals we've never heard about. We demand an investigation!

Funeralgate - the scandal left over from Bush's Texas years - is back in the news. On June 8, Eliza May's lawyers will be taking a deposition from Bush's former Chief of Staff, Joe Allbaugh, who was confirmed to head FEMA in February. And now May's lawyers want to deposte White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales, who is one of Bush's top choices for the U.S. Supreme Court. Gonzales, who is otherwise generally described as brilliant, claims he cannot remember anything about the case. Let him say that under oath - and subject himself to perjury charges.

PJ McIlvaine writes, "Dan 'The Watermelon Man' Burton and his Pardongate hearings are running out of gas faster than the Rocky the Bullwinkle balloon at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Having been cast adrift by his own party, and unable to come up with a scintilla of proof of any criminality on the part of Bill Clinton, our last legally elected President, Burton is now resorting to appearing on TV talk shows in his own rancid version of Duck Duck Goose... I'd like to suggest to Dapper Dan several ideas on what he should investigate next, since for damn sure it won't be Florida and the stolen election, electoral reform, Funeralgate, Bush's ties to Big Oil, Cheney and his questionable residency, black voter disenfranchisement, campaign finance reform, Bush's Baloney Budget, The Weasel's missing National Guard years, Jeb and Cruella De Ville's alleged affair and why is the Secret Service acting like the Bush Twins private taxi and baby-sitting service at taxpayer's expense."

The earthquake that struck the Northwestern part of the United States came on the same day that Bush proposed to kill a federal program designed to help communities protect themselves against the effects of natural disasters. His proposed budget recommends cutting $25 million from FEMA. FEMA is now being mis-led by Joe Allbaugh, Bush's former Chief of Staff, who is a named conspirator in Bush's "Funeralgate" scandal.

While Bush was Governor of Texas, National Heritage Insurance, the state's Medicaid administrator, defrauded the state out of $10 million. Last summer, state auditors found that the insurer had made $50 million in incorrect payments, especially in paying unlicensed dentists. Regarding the recent charges, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rob Junell (D-San Angelo) said: "The information that has been gathered is alarming and leads me to believe that the contract that was entered into was an extraordinarily bad deal for the state of Texas. There's also evidence that the current contract may not have been negotiated in a manner that is arm's length and protective of Texas taxpayers." This sounds like Funeralgate, which involved the use of unlicensed embalmers by a powerful Bush crony. What did Bush and his team know about this contract? We demand an investigation!

Why have the Republicans been winning? Because we have been letting them decide when and where to fight. It is long past time for the Democrats to stand their ground and force the GOP to engage them on hostile and dangerous territory -- the true center of American politics.

How many voters knew that President Bush is credibly charged with lying under oath about influence-peddling in a whistle-blower lawsuit that's scheduled for trial this year? Known as Funeralgate, Eliza May's wrongful termination lawsuit also questions the credibility of Bush's nominee to head the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Joe Allbaugh, formerly his campaign manager, whom the AP article about his nomination reported is "at the center" of the potentially sensational case.

This article suddenly disappeared from MSNBC's web site on February 9, 2001 - the day Democrats.com published a major expose on Funeralgate. This follows the disappearance of several other articles unfavorable to George W. Bush, most notably: a) the Washington Post article by Al Kamen identifying the Republican thugs who stopped the Miami recount (reposted following inquiries by a Democrats.com member), and b) the CNN Crossfire transcript where Larry Flynt charged Bush with helping his girlfriend get an abortion in the early 1970's. It took the Watergate scandal to expose Nixon's "plumbers" - it looks like Funeralgate will expose Bush's "scrubbers".

Joe Allbaugh, George W. Bush's nominee to head the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), has been revealed to be a "Named Conspirator" in Funeralgate, a Texas whistleblower lawsuit against George W. Bush, according to documents published on the Internet by Democrats.com, the largest independent news and community website for Democrats. Allbaugh was campaign manager of Bush's Presidential campaign, and is widely regarded as one of Bush's most powerful aides, along with strategist Karl Rove and spokeswoman Karen Hughes. Together, the three are known as the "Iron Triangle." Allbaugh is scheduled to testify before the Senate Government Affairs Committee on Tuesday, February 13 at 10:30 a.m. "Joe Allbaugh appears to have lied to the Senate Government Oversight Committee in response to its question about 'Funeralgate,'" said Fertik. "In the coming days, Democratic and Republican members of the committee should carefully examine Allbaugh's evasive answer - and pose additional detailed questions - to get to the truth about Allbaugh's involvement in this scandal, which reaches all the way up to the President of the United States," Fertik concluded.

How many voters knew that President Bush is credibly charged with lying under oath about influence-peddling in a whistle-blower lawsuit that's scheduled for trial this year? Known as Funeralgate, Eliza May's wrongful termination lawsuit also questions the credibility of Bush's nominee to head the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Joe Allbaugh, formerly his campaign manager, whom the AP article about his nomination reported is "at the center" of the potentially sensational case. Allbaugh's confirmation hearing before the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee is scheduled for Feb. 13. If Democrats break the conspiracy of silence about Funeralgate by calling Eliza May to explain her allegations against Bush and Allbaugh, the country may get a jolting preview of a presidential lawsuit that could make the Paula Jones case look like mere gossip. Read our exclusive report.

The Rent-a-Nazi's celebrated their Theft of the Presidency in Washington during the Inaugural weekend. "An Inaugural Reception Honoring the Men and Women Who Made it Happen," was sponsored by the power law firm of Patton Boggs, home to Bush lawyer Ben Ginsberg and Cokie Roberts' brother Hale Boggs Jr. Ginsberg's co-host was Joe Allbaugh, Bush's campaign manager and nominee for FEMA who is at the center of the Funeralgate scandal, who got "all choked up" when thanking the rioters. Featured guests included Ted and Barbara Olson and - you guessed it - Katherine Harris herself. Veterans of the "19th Floor Riot" - their term, not ours - were given T-shirts and lucite trophies - and top jobs in the Justice Department, no doubt.

Can the US Supreme Court protect baby Bush from the law? Looks like Dubya got some stuff on his boots in Texas, and it still stinks! They're calling it Funeralgate - Bush has been named as a defendant in the whistleblower lawsuit brought by Eliza May, the former executive director of the Texas Funeral Service Commission. The suit alleges that Bush and others who got campaign contributions from funeral giant Service Corporation International worked to thwart an investigation into SCI's hiring of improperly licensed embalmers. Al Gonzales, who is now the White House general counsel, will do all he can to keep Bush out of situations in which he must swear to tell the truth. But the Supreme Court ruled 9-0 that President Clinton could be sued for actions taken as Governor of Arkansas, so it's gonna take a Texas-size backflip to keep Bush out of the dock.