Abuse of power

The freedom loving sheriff of Denver aided and abetted by the city's major, has created a detention pen full of cages just in time for the DNCC. The place is not even a correctional facility --it's is cages inside an abandoned warehouse with no visible water, bathrooms, ventilation or access to phones and lawyers.

Oh, did I mention this detention place full of human cages was supposed to be a secret?

Denying due process to people without US citizenship, residency papers, green cards or a visa is becoming a business racket for private prisons and private security (aka paramilitary) companies.

The more people are thrown into those jails, the more money the concentration camps make.

Welcome to the new American economy.

h/t American Humanity

I just wrote a post about López Lomong for Awearness blog over at Kenneth Cole's. I am waiting for it to be published. It's a bit of a recap of his life as a Lost Boy from Sudán and now, not only an Olympic athlete, but an American citizen and the flag bearer for the US Olympic team in China.

While writing his Cinderella story I couldn't help but think of Hiu Lui Ng's horror story.

Hiu Lui Ng died in the custody of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs' Enforcement agency. Actually, he was documented : He had a job as a computer programmer. He had a wife and children and a home in Queens.

His crime? His visa had expired.

[Nota Bene : Revised and promoted by liza]

On the Friday before July 4 Republican Senator Arlen Specter showed his respect for the U.S. Constitution and his anger about President Bush’s repeated pissing on it by introducing the "Presidential Signing Statements Act of 2007". What happens to this crucial bill will test both congressional integrity and courage.

Specter had the honesty to call President Bush's abuse of signing statements an "unconstitutional attempt to usurp legislative authority." "The president cannot use a signing statement to rewrite the words of a statute nor can he use a signing statement to selectively nullify those provisions he does not like," said Specter.

“Presidential signing statements can render the legislative process a virtual nullity, making it completely unpredictable how certain laws will be enforced. This legislation reinforces the system of checks and balances and separation of powers set out in our Constitution,” said Specter.

Commenting on the legislative process, Specter noted: “This is a finely structured constitutional procedure that goes straight to the heart of our system of check and balances. Any action by the president that circumvents this finely structured procedure is an unconstitutional attempt to usurp legislative authority. If the president is permitted to rewrite the bills that Congress passes and cherry-pick which provisions he likes and does not like, he subverts the constitutional process designed by our framers.” Subversion of our Constitution – pissing on it: that’s what Bush has gotten away with. Bush-the-ruler has made a mockery of our sacred rule of law.

This was sent to The Next Hurrah via email :

We fully recognize that the Constitution provides that commutation decisions are a matter of presidential prerogative and we do not comment on the exercise of that prerogative.

We comment only on the statement in which the President termed the sentence imposed by the judge as “excessive.” The sentence in this case was imposed pursuant to the laws governing sentencings which occur every day throughout this country. In this case, an experienced federal judge considered extensive argument from the parties and then imposed a sentence consistent with the applicable laws. It is fundamental to the rule of law that all citizens stand before the bar of justice as equals. That principle guided the judge during both the trial and the sentencing.

Although the President’s decision eliminates Mr. Libby’s sentence of imprisonment, Mr. Libby remains convicted by a jury of serious felonies, and we will continue to seek to preserve those convictions through the appeals process.

George W. Bush commutes Scooter Libby's 30-month jail sentence for lying under oath and obstruction of justice in the Plame Case. This proves that he not only runs the White House like a mafia but, if he could, he would whack all of Congress and run a totalitarian government.

Raw Story reports:

Libby did not receive a pardon, but he did have his 30 month jail sentence commuted by President Bush. He remains guilty of the felonies of perjury, obstruction of justice, and making false statements in the federal investigation of the outing of covert CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson. He will also pay a $250,000 fine.

I challenge any republican to justify this move and try to rationalize it as anything other than being a good Xian. This is the biggest F**k you Bush could have given to Congress. As John Conyers' said, "this decision is inconsistent with the rule of law". With this commuting Bush is sending a strong message that he approves of lying under oath and breaking the law for political gain.

Nancy Pelosi also has some harsh words for Bush:

The President’s commutation of Scooter Libby’s prison sentence does not serve justice, condones criminal conduct, and is a betrayal of trust of the American people.

Senator Charles Schumer was right now on C-SPAN-3 being interviewed on the Gonzales mess.

He has not only has said that there is growing bi-partisan consensus that Alberto Gonzales is not fit for the job of US Attorney General, but has said that "he is less qualified to be attorney general than the US attorneys he fired". And, just to dig the point deeper, he offered the comment that, had this had happened under the Reagan administration, Gonzales would have been summarily fired.

I kind of disagree on that one because, in Reagan's America, he would have never been hired in the first place.

Image found at Wikipedia

I have always been baffled by the inclusiveness and diversity of the Bush administration. I could have never fathomed a black woman Secretary of State under any Democratic presidency, yet thanks to George Bush, Condoleeza Rice is not just that, but she's also one of the most powerful women in the world.

The same goes with the concept of a latino working as U. S. Attorney General, but here I am watching Alberto Gonzales trying to weasel his way out of the Judiciary Commitee hearing on the recent firing of eight U.S. Attorneys.

Gonzales ...

Rice ...

It's amazing what people will do for power.

It's kind of taboo for a minority to denounce another one. We're not supposed to that. We're supposed to present a united front against oppression. You know, because we're all supposed to be one consciousness and not act out of free agency and will.

Yahhh. Riiiiight.

I wrote a post about a sex negative, misogynist, homophobic culture utilizing sex as power and as carte blanche to harm. Gotta find it and link to it.

In the meantime, I was surfing and found that Amnesty International is advocating that American citizens outcry against this:

Redefining rape: Bush deal would allow for sexually abusive tactics. Tell Congress to vote against it.

UPDATE: the House voted and passed President Bush's detainee legislation, which would redefine rape and sexual abuse to exclude acts previously considered abusive.

But there still time to call the Senate.

No human rights activist can remain on the sidelines in the days ahead. Call on your Senator to oppose these dangerous provisions.

Please call your Senator today and tell them you're outraged.

Dial 1-800-AMNESTY and our operators will connect you or call the Congressional switch board directly at 202-224-3121 (or lookup your Senator's info).

Let the person on the phone know that you are a constituent, and tell them that this "deal" must be fixed before it's sent to the President.

Tell them that the Senate should not rush to pass a bill that sets this country back on the legal standards for rape, sexual abuse and other forms of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. TELL THEM TO VOTE NO ON THE BUSH DEAL.

Wow!
Fascinating...

Everybody knows that Georgie got into office not once but TWICE by cheating.

http://tinyurl.com/2vglxe (Think Progress)
http://tinyurl.com/39zcxa (Democratic Underground)
http://tinyurl.com/3dw8df (Daily Kos)

Despite having withdrawn his nomination just weeks ago to avoid political embarrassment in the Senate, the White House has just recess-appointed SBVT funder and major RNC meal ticket Sam Fox to his previously-rejected post as Ambassador to Belgium.

This is so totally wrong, in so many different ways.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Democrats will be assessing every option -- both legal and within the SFRC itself -- for taking on this recess appointment.

Never before has a withdrawn nominee been recess appointed in this fashion. The White House withdrew Fox's nomination on March 27th, less than an hour before the hearing was to start, admitting later that he did not have the votes to survive.

It’s sad (but not surprising) that this White House would abuse the power of the presidency to send a big-money Rethug Party donor to a post in Belgium over the objections of the Senate.

When it comes to getting body armor for our soldiers or relief for New Orleans, they’re AWOL, but they'll move heaven and earth to reward a smear.

This administration has governed on fear and smear for far too long. Today's move shows it is so wedded to the politics of personal character assassination that they are willing to take unprecedented steps to reward Sam Fox with an ambassadorship that he clearly does not deserve.

Snippet of trial documents found at FindLaw.com

I have never been so disinterested in a "big news trial" as I am with the Scooter Libby trial. I'm sorry but, as corrupt as the man is, he is taking the fall for Dick Cheny and Karl Rove. I want to see Dick Cheney's ass on that defendant's seat, not a man with the nickname of a popular children's vehicle.

So, enlighten me. What's hot and what's not about the Libby trial?

Saddam Hussein was hanged just one crime against humanity, and not for the scores of crimes he committed during his decades long dictatorship.

How come, then, can't we impeach George Bush on the following 10 crimes?

1. Violating the United Nations Charter by launching an illegal war of aggression against Iraq without cause, using fraud to sell the war to Congress and the public, and misusing government funds to begin bombing without Congressional authorization.
2. Violating U.S. and international law by authorizing the torture of thousands of captives, resulting in dozens of deaths, and keeping prisoners hidden from the International Committee of the Red Cross.
3. Violating the Constitution by arbitrarily detaining Americans, legal residents, and non-Americans, without due process, without charge, and without access to counsel.
4. Violating the Geneva Conventions by targeting civilians, journalists, hospitals, and ambulances, and using illegal weapons, including white phosphorous, depleted uranium, and a new type of napalm.
5. Violating U.S. law and the Constitution through widespread wiretapping of the phone calls and emails of Americans without a warrant.
   
   

Joe Francis, "child" pornographer From Maker of 'Girls Gone Wild' Runs Afoul of Law on Minors - Los Angeles Times:

Joe Francis and the Santa Monica-based company he built on soft-core "Girls Gone Wild" videos pleaded guilty Tuesday to violating federal laws designed to prevent the sexual exploitation of children and agreed to pay fines totaling $2.1 million.Under the terms of a deal with the Justice Department, Francis agreed to personally pay a $500,000 fine to settle charges in Los Angeles that he failed to keep records of the ages and identities of the women who appeared in his films. As a result, Francis said in a statement, footage of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct appeared in at least two DVDs he released.

Link Do a Google News search on child pornography and you will get thousands of news articles about (mostly) men being thrown in jail for being consumers of "child pornography".

I don't know about you, but I am damned sick of the right wing nuts exploiting 9/11 for their own benefit. This year they plan to do it again and ABC is hosting it. From Truthout:

Clinton, 9/11 and the Facts
By William Rivers Pitt
t r u t h o u t | Perspective

Wednesday 30 August 2006

The fifth anniversary of the September 11 attacks is less than two weeks away...ABC intends to mark the occasion in far more grand a fashion. Starting September 10th and ending September 11th, the network will show a miniseries titled "The Path to 9/11." According to reports from early screenings, the writer/producer of the miniseries, Cyrus Nowrasteh, has crafted a television polemic intended to blame the entire event on President Clinton.

Nowrasteh, an outspoken conservative...spoke last year at the Liberty Film Festival, described by its founders as Hollywood's first conservative film festival. Govindini Murty, actress, writer, and co-director of the Liberty Film Festival, wrote a review of "The Path to 9/11" for the right-wing online news page FrontPageMag.com.

In the review, Murty states, "'The Path to 9/11' is one of the best, most intelligent, most pro-American miniseries I've ever seen on TV, and conservatives should support it and promote it as vigorously as possible. This is the first Hollywood production I've seen that honestly depicts how the Clinton administration repeatedly bungled the capture of Osama bin Laden."

Not long ago I was chided for targeting Rep. Bob Ney of Ohio. I considered him a target while the person who chided me said he was unassailable, too hard to defeat.

Well, once again events prove that no politician is safe if they are corrupt. Bob Ney is going down. And if we play our cards right, we can win big in Ohio this year because of Republican corruption.

I keep saying that even in districts where Republicans seem safe, the corruption issue can be huge. No one seemed safer in their corrupt complacency than Tom DeLay (TX), Randy Cunningham (CA) and Bob Ney (OH). DeLay is dropping out in disgrace, Cunningham is in jail and now I am happy to report that Bob Ney is following in DeLay's footsteps. Bob Ney, who I have included in some of my Ohio diaries, will drop out in disgrace in November. From BBC News:

A leading US Republican lawmaker facing corruption allegations has said he will not run for re-election in November.

Ohio congressman Bob Ney said he would stand down from the seat he has held for 12 years because of his family.

I got it right here, baby!

Photo courtesey of the National Weather Service

NOAA PREDICTS VERY ACTIVE 2006 NORTH ATLANTIC HURRICANE SEASON Residents in Hurricane Prone Areas Urged to Make Preparations
"For the 2006 north Atlantic hurricane season, NOAA is predicting 13 to 16 named storms, with eight to 10 becoming hurricanes, of which four to six could become 'major' hurricanes of Category 3 strength or higher," added retired Navy Vice Adm. Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Ph.D., undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator.

On average, the north Atlantic hurricane season produces 11 named storms, with six becoming hurricanes, including two major hurricanes. In 2005, the Atlantic hurricane season contained a record 28 storms, including 15 hurricanes. Seven of these hurricanes were considered "major," of which a record four hit the United States. "Although NOAA is not forecasting a repeat of last year's season, the potential for hurricanes striking the U.S. is high," added Lautenbacher.

Killing an innocent bystander because he looks "muslim" is acceptable as long as it is meant to protect said by-stander from the actual terrorists.

Better err on the wrong side of right than to not err at all.

England has become the new United States, were murder is not a crime but an unsanitary nuisance.

Some have criticized NY State for being behind in compliance with the Federal government's HAVA requirements for new voting machines, but in reality our state may be slow because we are being more careful. While many states are simply taking vendor statements at face value (something I NEVER do in my job and our government shouldn't either), NY State has been standing its ground, even if in some cases it has only been because of a lack of decisiveness among our legislators. From Vote Trust USA:

The history of New York's purported non-compliance with Help America Vote Act (HAVA) is a long one. Much has been made of HAVA's lack of requirements for voter-verified paper audit records (VVPARs) or paper ballots that can be used to allow independent verification of e-voting system tallies produced by Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) and Optical Scan (OS) systems (paper ballots provide this capability inherently of course). But bills in the New York State legislature from both sides of the aisle have required VVPARs with random audits since at least 2004. New Yorkers may be stubborn but they're not stupid.

It would be patently absurd to replace a transparent, statewide, non-proprietary, low-tech mechanical lever voting system that even prevents write-in overvotes and can only be corrupted the old fashioned way -- one machine at a time -- with opaque, proprietary, computerized e-voting systems, programmed en masse by as few as a single insider, with no means of independent verification whatsoever. And contrary to popular belief the potential for programming error or malfeasance applies equally to DRE and Optical Scan technologies. Fortunately, the independent verification issue was resolved here years ago; the legislature declared, "There shall be paper." So too was the issue of source code escrow, which recently prompted at least one major e-voting vendor (Diebold Election Systems) not to compete in the state of North Carolina. As in the Tarheel State, the escrow of vendors' proprietary software has been a requirement in New York's legislation for years.

Ken Lay, convicted and corrupt Enron exec who became the poster boy for what is wrong with the Republican culture of corruption, has died of a heart attack. He was scheduled to be sentenced in September. Seems like nature beat the court to it.

Condolences to Lay's family.

Sometimes I wonder about Democrats. We don't know whether the elections were stolen in Florida, 2000, Georgia, 2002, and Ohio, 2004. Think about that. We DON'T KNOW. Other elections around the country, including a couple in San Diego, California, have had suspicious outcomes and flaws.

One concern are voting machines. America, after 2000, decided it needs to upgrade its voting machines. Fine. That sounds good. But ONLY if it improves the efficiency and accuracy of our voting system.

Today in NYC and around the nation we are faced with a choice: upgrade to DRE machines where the vote is all done on a touch screen, or PBOS machines where the vote is done in Scantron fashion with a real paper ballot, but computer tabulation. These are the only choices being offered by manufacturers.

Democrats got burned potentially in three election years in a row. And part of the problem are these new machines. Both DRE and PBOS machines have had problems. The difference is that if an election board wants to completely check the accuracy of an election, it can be done with PBOS machines. It can't with DRE machines.

With PBOS, as a last resort, a non-partisan or bi-partisan election board can fairly and accurately count the paper ballots that are left as a record of the vote. In fact, the voter him or herself can check before leaving the voting booth to see that the vote is properly cast. With DRE machines it is all in the computer and the software is a company secret. That means, with DRE machines we will never and can never know how the votes are recorded and tabulated. Only the company knows. That puts private companies in charge of our vote, and puts oversight of the accuracy of an election in the hands of the companies that are selling us the machines.

Hurrah! The campaign put by the ACLU, People for the American Way, Progressive Majory and other progressive and civil liberties organizations has paid off.

These are the true patriots that work hard to save the integrity of the US Constitution. Please join me in a round of applause.

"America prides itself on tolerance and acceptance; it is essential that we not amend our founding document to allow censorship, even when the speech in question is reprehensible"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, June 27, 2006

WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today applauded the Senate for rejecting a proposed Constitutional amendment to ban flag "desecration." The amendment, S.J. Res. 12, fell one vote short of the two-thirds majority required for passage.

"The Senate came close to torching our constitution, but luckily it came through unscathed," said Caroline Fredrickson, Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office. "We applaud those brave Senators who stood up for the First Amendment and rejected this damaging and needless amendment.

NYT's Sandy Huffaker and Amy Gunderson in "What's the Thread Count on My Dog's Bed?" forecast the next school-and-socialization frontier after universal preschool:

The W San Diego started pet-friendly cocktail hours in the fall and the Hotel Helix in Washington is starting one this summer. The Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort in Naples starts obedience classes this summer including a socialization class for puppies 10 weeks to 5 months old.

And the Loews Coronado Bay Resort in San Diego offers dog surfing classes. Yes, surfing. The hotel rolled out a $300 package this spring that includes one night's accommodation, a surfing lesson for the dog (but not the owner), a meal for the pet, and board shorts (seriously) for smaller dogs.

"We have sold close to 40 of those packages," said Anne Stephany, the public relations manager for the Loews Coronado Bay. . .

From BBC News:

Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, former bosses of energy trader Enron, have both been found guilty of fraud.

The two presided over the spectacular collapse of the energy giant in 2001 and are also accused of lying to investors about its financial problems.

Randy Cunnnigham, Tom DeLay, Ken Lay, Jeff Skilling, Karl Rove, Jack Abramoff...

Slowly we are chipping away at the Halliburton/Enron Republican culture of corruption.

America claims to be fighting for democracy and freedom worldwide. Yet we condone torture and refuse to comply with the UN.

From BBC news:

A U.N. panel said Friday the indefinite detention of suspected terrorists at Guantanamo violates the world's ban on torture. In issuing its report, the Committee Against Torture said the United States should ensure that no prisoner is tortured.

Why did we invade Iraq? Well, among the many reasons we gave in our desperate attempt to jutstify an illegal invasion was that Hussein committed torture and that he violated basic human rights and UN resolutions.

And now we, the United States, are justifying torture, violating basic human rights and violating UN resolutions.

The article goes on to report how Condaleezza Rice and John McCain see Guantanamo's detention camp a dilemma for the United States. A dilemma? A camp where we detain hundreds of people from around the world illegally (according to the United Nations) under conditions considered by international law as torture, with no legal due process whatsoever is a dilemma for the United States?

Crack open your umbrellas ... there may be pigs flying.

Doug McIntyre, star of McIntyre in the Morning is a republican apologist who has woken up to reality and apologizes for, not just voting for Bush but using his radio show to ennable his administrations lies and abuses of power.

I'm speechless:

[via McIntyre in the Morning 790 KABC-FM]:

It was the wrong course. All of it was wrong. We are not on the road to victory. We’re about to slink home with our tail between our legs, leaving civil war in Iraq and a nuclear armed Iran in our wake. Bali was bombed. Madrid was bombed. London was bombed. And Bin Laden is still making tapes. It’s unspeakable. The liberal media didn’t create this reality, bad policy did.

Most historians believe it takes 30-50 years before we get a reasonably accurate take on a President’s place in history. So, maybe 50 years from now Iraq will be a peaceful member of the brotherhood of nations and George W. Bush will be celebrated as a visionary genius.

But we don’t live fifty years in the future. We live now. We have to make public policy decisions now. We have to live with the consequences of the votes we cast and the leaders we chose now.

After five years of carefully watching George W. Bush I’ve reached the conclusion he’s either grossly incompetent, or a hand puppet for a gaggle of detached theorists with their own private view of how the world works. Or both.

The FBI is investigating the NYPD's actions during the 2004 Republican Convention protests. Starting with the RNC protests, the NYPD has taken fairly draconian methods of dealing with protesters. I witnessed a little of this when I saw the NYPD use motor scooters for crowd control, actually pushing into the crowd with their scooters...and the cops were not in uniform, making it seem like it was an attack by hoodlums. More recently, I saw on Current TV footage of NYPD officers (out of uniform) actually antagonizing protesters to start a fight so they could arrest people.

Well, it looks like some of these practices are going to bite the NYPD in the ass: