Friday, December 30, 2005
Everything That Rises Must Converge
N.C. House Speaker Jim Black and the corruption scandal over the lottery makes the WashPost. See for yourself.
Torturers R Us
Another of Dana Priest's investigative reports on El Presidente's secret war on the Constitution, in this a.m.'s WashPost:
When the heat was on about illegal torture earlier this year, the administration dropped authorization for certain "interrogation techniques," then quietly reinstated them. The authorized techniques include "waterboarding" and "water dousing," both meant to make prisoners think they are drowning; hard slapping; isolation; sleep deprivation; liquid diets; and stress positions.
Through executive order, El Presidente has ordered the CIA to capture al Qaeda "suspects" (often with help from foreign intelligence services), to maintain secret prisons abroad, to use the interrogation techniques outlined above, and to maintain a fleet of aircraft to move detainees around the globe (including carriers and operatives with North Carolina connections).
A. John Radsan, assistant general counsel at the CIA from 2002 to 2004, spoke on the record to Priest: "In the past, presidents set up buffers to distance themselves from covert action. But this president, who is breaking down the boundaries between covert action and conventional war, seems to relish the secret findings and the dirty details of operations."
"Everything is done in the name of self-defense, so they can do anything because nothing is forbidden in the war powers act," said one anonymous official who was briefed on the CIA's original cover program and who is skeptical of its legal underpinnings. "It's an amazing legal justification that allows them to do anything."
Do ANYTHING and talk dirty to me!
Our favorite feature: the CIA is developing "procedures" in the event a prisoner dies in custody (from a mite too much "stress"). "One proposal circulating among mid-level officers calls for rushing in a CIA pathologist to perform an autopsy and then quickly burning the body."
When the heat was on about illegal torture earlier this year, the administration dropped authorization for certain "interrogation techniques," then quietly reinstated them. The authorized techniques include "waterboarding" and "water dousing," both meant to make prisoners think they are drowning; hard slapping; isolation; sleep deprivation; liquid diets; and stress positions.
Through executive order, El Presidente has ordered the CIA to capture al Qaeda "suspects" (often with help from foreign intelligence services), to maintain secret prisons abroad, to use the interrogation techniques outlined above, and to maintain a fleet of aircraft to move detainees around the globe (including carriers and operatives with North Carolina connections).
A. John Radsan, assistant general counsel at the CIA from 2002 to 2004, spoke on the record to Priest: "In the past, presidents set up buffers to distance themselves from covert action. But this president, who is breaking down the boundaries between covert action and conventional war, seems to relish the secret findings and the dirty details of operations."
"Everything is done in the name of self-defense, so they can do anything because nothing is forbidden in the war powers act," said one anonymous official who was briefed on the CIA's original cover program and who is skeptical of its legal underpinnings. "It's an amazing legal justification that allows them to do anything."
Do ANYTHING and talk dirty to me!
Our favorite feature: the CIA is developing "procedures" in the event a prisoner dies in custody (from a mite too much "stress"). "One proposal circulating among mid-level officers calls for rushing in a CIA pathologist to perform an autopsy and then quickly burning the body."
Welcome Wagon
According to this a.m.'s NYTimes, the recently passed House "border-security [anti-immigration] bill" will make it a federal crime to offer services or assistance to illegal immigrants. Virginia Foxx dreamed that up. It's her baby. She's a major cosponsor.
Priests, social workers, community do-gooders of all stripes ... THIS MEANS YOU! Help an illegal immigrant and you could spend five years in jail. Virginia Foxx's law would also allow the federal government to seize personal assets of those caught passing out meals, medical aid, or legal advice.
The Roman Catholic Foxx might want to note that the American Conference of Catholic Bishops has denounced the bill.
At the moment, this piece of unnecessary mischief is a House-passed law only. The Senate hasn't acted, and many think the Senate will never go along with the whip-and-chains approach.
Priests, social workers, community do-gooders of all stripes ... THIS MEANS YOU! Help an illegal immigrant and you could spend five years in jail. Virginia Foxx's law would also allow the federal government to seize personal assets of those caught passing out meals, medical aid, or legal advice.
The Roman Catholic Foxx might want to note that the American Conference of Catholic Bishops has denounced the bill.
At the moment, this piece of unnecessary mischief is a House-passed law only. The Senate hasn't acted, and many think the Senate will never go along with the whip-and-chains approach.
Thursday, December 29, 2005
John 8:7
This just in: Spencer Mains, chair of the Watauga County Republican Party, has resigned his position over allegations of marital infidelity, and First Vice Chair Karen Wilson has taken over the party.
The split in the Watauga County GOP gets more unseemly by the week, not that there's anything wrong with that. Except that APPEARANCES are so important to them, as is their belief in their own moral superiority. It MUST be rough for people who spent all those years yukking it up over the sexual improprieties of Bill Clinton to face the failures of their own leaders.
Not that they're facing anything. Denial is not just a river in Egypt.
The split in the Watauga County GOP gets more unseemly by the week, not that there's anything wrong with that. Except that APPEARANCES are so important to them, as is their belief in their own moral superiority. It MUST be rough for people who spent all those years yukking it up over the sexual improprieties of Bill Clinton to face the failures of their own leaders.
Not that they're facing anything. Denial is not just a river in Egypt.
Pernicious Cookies
According to this a.m.'s NYTimes, the National Security Agency -- in addition to its already notorious illegal data-mining of domestic communications -- has been installing a form of spyware on the computers of anyone visiting the NSA website. The spyware, known as "persistent cookies," can track the Web surfing of your ordinary Joe or Jane who just happened to visit the NSA site for whatever reason.
Not only that, but when a privacy activist discovered the cookies on his own machine and alerted the Associated Press, the NSA quickly disabled the program and said it was all a mistake.
It's an illegal mistake.
Tip of the iceberg, folks. Tip of the iceberg.
Not only that, but when a privacy activist discovered the cookies on his own machine and alerted the Associated Press, the NSA quickly disabled the program and said it was all a mistake.
It's an illegal mistake.
Tip of the iceberg, folks. Tip of the iceberg.
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Yoo Who?
John Yoo isn't exactly a household name, but he should be. As a mid-level attorney in George W. Bush's Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, Yoo had "a hand in virtually every major legal decision involving the US response to the attacks of September 11, and at every point, so far as we know, his advice was virtually always the same -- the president can do whatever the president wants."
It was Yoo, for example, who advised in an August 2002 memorandum that El Presidente cannot constitutionally be barred from ordering torture in wartime.
It also appears likely that it was Yoo's legal reasoning that suggested that the president could simply ignore the FISA law in ordering massive eavesdropping of international communications by domestic sources.
Yoo is now back in private life as a law professor at UCLA-Berkeley, and he's written a book defending his legal interpretations of the power of the president. There's a book review of it here that is exhaustive in unpacking the dangerous reasoning that is unhinging our constitutional checks and balances.
It was Yoo, for example, who advised in an August 2002 memorandum that El Presidente cannot constitutionally be barred from ordering torture in wartime.
It also appears likely that it was Yoo's legal reasoning that suggested that the president could simply ignore the FISA law in ordering massive eavesdropping of international communications by domestic sources.
Yoo is now back in private life as a law professor at UCLA-Berkeley, and he's written a book defending his legal interpretations of the power of the president. There's a book review of it here that is exhaustive in unpacking the dangerous reasoning that is unhinging our constitutional checks and balances.
McCain Thinks Evolution is Running for Class President
Thanks to Stumpy for passing along this link, to keep us up with the Man Formerly Known for his "Straight Talk Express" who is now pandering in the worst way to a variety of audiences in his maneuvering to become the oldest president in American history.
On whether "Intelligent Design" should be taught along with evolution, McCain reportedly told an MTV audience, "Let the students decide."
While we're at it, why not let them decide whether Western Civilization, algebra, and U.S. history are worth studying, and whether pizza should be served every day in the cafeteria?
I just lost a lot of respect for the guy.
On whether "Intelligent Design" should be taught along with evolution, McCain reportedly told an MTV audience, "Let the students decide."
While we're at it, why not let them decide whether Western Civilization, algebra, and U.S. history are worth studying, and whether pizza should be served every day in the cafeteria?
I just lost a lot of respect for the guy.
Friday, December 23, 2005
Santorum Tacking to the Left
The day after Judge Jones' decision in the Pennsylvania "Intelligent Design" case (Kitzmiller et al. v. Dover School Board), Sen. Rick Santorum (than whom there is nobody more to the taste of Christian conservatives) told the Philadelphia Enquirer that "he was troubled by testimony indicating that religion motivated some school board members to adopt the policy." Wha? (Account in today's WashPost.)
Santorum was on the advisory board of the Michigan-based Thomas More Law Center, which encouraged the Dover School Board to pass their rule in favor of "Intelligent Design" and then go to court to defend it. "I thought the Thomas More Law Center made a huge mistake in taking this case and in pushing this case to the extent they did," Santorum said. He said he will end his affiliation with the center.
Incidentally, Santorum is fighting for his political life in next year's Senate race, and he's way down in the polls. Does he think that going all gay about evolution is going to help him?
ADDENDUM: We're reminded (on the subject of Santorum's outrageous pandering to gay evolutionists) that the good Senator was not only a big proponent of teaching intelligent design, but his editorial on the subject was also featured prominently in the special newsletter the Dover Area school board sent out to the district after it added the intelligent design statement to the curriculum.
Santorum was on the advisory board of the Michigan-based Thomas More Law Center, which encouraged the Dover School Board to pass their rule in favor of "Intelligent Design" and then go to court to defend it. "I thought the Thomas More Law Center made a huge mistake in taking this case and in pushing this case to the extent they did," Santorum said. He said he will end his affiliation with the center.
Incidentally, Santorum is fighting for his political life in next year's Senate race, and he's way down in the polls. Does he think that going all gay about evolution is going to help him?
ADDENDUM: We're reminded (on the subject of Santorum's outrageous pandering to gay evolutionists) that the good Senator was not only a big proponent of teaching intelligent design, but his editorial on the subject was also featured prominently in the special newsletter the Dover Area school board sent out to the district after it added the intelligent design statement to the curriculum.
Stockings All Hung ... Up
We like this quote by former Republican Congressman Vin Weber of Minnesota (from this a.m.'s WashPost): "If you look at the whole [legislative year], [Republicans in Congress] didn't have a bad year. But, unfortunately, what matters politically is not the whole, but the end. And the end didn't end very well."
The "end" included El Presidente having to cave in to John McCain on an anti-torture statute (not that he's gonna actually follow the law), no oil drilling in ANWR, the budget reduction for poor people's aid and student loans still not passed, and in the last minutes yesterday, Rep. James Sensenbrenner pulled the rug out from under the brokered deal to extend the USA Patriot Act for six more months. It's extended for a mere five more weeks, after El Presidente said no way in hell he would sign a short-term extension. Way!
Leads to gloomy post-mortems like this one, by former Republican congressman, Mickey Edwards (Okla.): "It's the cumulative effect of all of this, whether it is scandal, or failure to get an agenda enacted or questions in the paper every day about unauthorized wiretaps and the failure of Congress to get involved. It's all adding up to a pretty serious situation."
As in uber-lobbyist Jack Abramoff making a deal with prosecutors to nail a dozen lawmakers or so.
And THAT makes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
The "end" included El Presidente having to cave in to John McCain on an anti-torture statute (not that he's gonna actually follow the law), no oil drilling in ANWR, the budget reduction for poor people's aid and student loans still not passed, and in the last minutes yesterday, Rep. James Sensenbrenner pulled the rug out from under the brokered deal to extend the USA Patriot Act for six more months. It's extended for a mere five more weeks, after El Presidente said no way in hell he would sign a short-term extension. Way!
Leads to gloomy post-mortems like this one, by former Republican congressman, Mickey Edwards (Okla.): "It's the cumulative effect of all of this, whether it is scandal, or failure to get an agenda enacted or questions in the paper every day about unauthorized wiretaps and the failure of Congress to get involved. It's all adding up to a pretty serious situation."
As in uber-lobbyist Jack Abramoff making a deal with prosecutors to nail a dozen lawmakers or so.
And THAT makes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
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