Miers out - Scalia-Lite in
Wow, you go out of town for a few days and the Bush administration starts imploding, maybe I should go out of town more often.The good news of the week, obviously the indictment of Scooter Libby and the possibility that there will be more to come. The bad news, it would seem, is actually the withdrawal of Miers nomination. Instead of getting a relative unknown, we are handed an absolute conservative.
The supreme court position, which a judge can hold for life, is to fill the vacancy left by Sandra Day O'Connor, a swing voter, and could shift the bench to the right for decades to come.
Mr Alito was Mr Bush's favorite for the position before he decided to nominate someone outside what he calls the "judicial monastery," White House officials told the Associated Press.
Mr Alito has been called "Scalito" or "Scalia-lite" by some lawyers because his judicial philosophy invites comparisons to supreme court justice Antonin Scalia, the leading conservative on the bench. -The Guardian
We can be sure that the nomination of such a radical conservative will break off any chance of avoiding a filibuster on the nomination. Although the republicans were able to use the threat of the "nuclear option" last time to paint the "liberal" democrats as being partisan and holding up the work of the government, bringing about a compromise, the public is not on their side this time. With the miserable response to Katrina, the indictment of DeLay, the investigation of Frist, the investigation of Rove, the indictment of Cheney's Chief of Staff, and the withdrawal of Miers nomination, the public perception of the Republican party has shifted dramatically. A Supreme Court showdown will only bolster the Democratic party for the 2006 midterm elections. So maybe, it's not such a bad thing after all.
On another, completely random tangent, I have to take a moment to talk about the abortion issue, since it seems to be all that the media is focused on when considering supreme court nominees. The Republican party is supposed to be all about a small central government and giving the states the right to chose. Also, a party that is so adamant about guns being a right that the government should not interfere with, citing privacy concerns, why is the right to chose something the government should be involved in? Or is it simply because it's deemed a woman's issue?
Which is another complete irony, because the last time I checked, women can't impregnate themselves. Yet, as always in our society, the blame and the burden is rested squarely on the shoulders of women. If the goal was really to lessen or end the amount of abortions, then more effort should be focused on prevention. Plan B, emergency contraception, teaching children about more than abstinence and making oral contraceptives more easily available instead of allowing pharmacists the option of not filling the prescription and insurance companies the option of not covering them, would all lessen the number of abortions. Instead, we have Medicare and insurance companies required to cover viagra (but not contraception), abstinence only education that has actually increased the
number of kids having unprotected sex (with a huge jump in reported oral an anal sex), and violence against women spiraling out of control with the number of
rapes increasing 5% in the last five years alone.
Obviously, what we've been doing has not been working, so why would we go even further in the same direction? Or is it that the abortion issue isn't really about abortion at all, but rather about the role of women in society. And I can hardly accept it as solely a moral issue when most of the groups fighting abortion on moral grounds also advocate the death penalty and fail to recognize war as murder as well. Women have come to far to have our role in society or our right to make decisions about our own bodies decided by a bunch of old white men.
2,000 US Soldiers Killed in Iraq
We've reached another horrific milestone in Iraq,
2,000 US Soldiers killed in the line of duty. People from all over the country are doing something to honor these sacrifices and bring our troops home, you can join them:
Not One More Death, Not One More Dollar - The American Friends Service Committee and the Gold Star Families for Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War, and Military Families Speak Out are holding:
There are currently 405 events planned in 49 states and counting...On Wednesday, October 26, people will gather in communities across the U.S. to mark the death of the 2,000th reported U.S. military death in Iraq and to say that the country’s pro-peace majority wants Congress to stop the deaths by stopping the dollars that are funding the war.
TrueMajority members have been active in opposing the war in Iraq, and now it's time to come together again. The Win Without War coalition--including Democracy for America, MoveOn.org, and TrueMajority--is organizing candlelight vigils around the country Wednesday, October 26th, at 6:30 P.M. in commemoration of the 2,000 members of America's armed forces killed in Iraq.
To find an existing vigil in your community or to create a new one, go to:http://political.moveon.org/event/iraqvigils/
Karma finally getting around to Dick Cheney
That's right, they've finally found something on Mr. Halliburton himself, Vice President Dick Cheney. Rally 'round the impeachment wagons, this could just be the beginning.
AP is reporting:Documents in the CIA leak investigation indicate the chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney first heard of the covert CIA officer from Cheney himself, The New York Times reported in Tuesday editions.
The newspaper said notes of a previously undisclosed June 12, 2003 conversation between I. Lewis Libby and Cheney appear to differ from Libby's grand jury testimony that he first heard of Valerie Plame from journalists. The newspaper identified its sources as lawyers who are involved in the case.
Surely, Fitzgerald will now pursue a perjury charge against Libby, but the administration would have sold her out to save face eventually. The big question now is whether there will be charges on the way for Cheney and just how far this all goes.
Also interesting, why was this released at nearly 1 in the morning? Are they trying to bury it already? I hope this gets plenty of air time.
Darfur - Last Chance --- Only Weeks Left
A new, must read article from
Rueters: The world has just weeks to help restore peace in Sudan's Darfur region or risk watching it slide back into civil war with repercussions for the whole region, U.N. refugee chief Antonio Guterres said on Friday.
A patchy ceasefire was falling apart as the two main rebel groups began to disintegrate, an African Union (AU) peace force was hopelessly undermanned, under-equipped and under-funded and the world appeared to have lost interest, he said.
"Everything is getting out of control. This is happening on both sides," Guterres, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told Reuters. "The crucial moment is from now to the end of the year."
"We are close to a moment in which a new major tragedy might occur in Darfur," he added at the launch of a DVD of a concert last December to raise money for refugees from the strife-torn region the size of France.
"It would have a major impact on the neighbours ... and on the whole African region."
The United Nations says at least two million Sudanese have been turned into refugees in their own country by 2 1/2 years of fighting between rebels, the Sudanese army and Arab militias known as Janjaweed, believed to be backed by Khartoum.
Another 200,000 have been forced to flee to camps in neighbouring Chad.
Rape, murder and robbery are rampant, and food is scarce despite the efforts of aid agencies.
A sixth round of faltering peace talks in the Nigerian capital Abuja was adjourned until November on Thursday. Since mid-September scant headway has been made.more...
Take Action today. How can you help? Donate to
Save the Children,
Unicef,
Human Rights Watch, or you can even buy somethign to
raise awareness here or
here. Another thing you can do, visit the
Amnesty International Page on Sudan and take action.
"In Germany they came first for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up." - Martin Niemoller
Another Abu Ghraib?
The US military has begun an investigation into military personnel desecrating Taliban bodies in Afghanistan.
The Australian Dateline program aired a film of two soldiers burning the bodies of the Taliban soldiers and then the US army psychological operations unit blasted offensive messages over loudspeakers.
According to a transcript of the program, the soldiers faced the bodies towards Mecca in a deliberately provocative move and set them on fire. One said: "Wow, look at the blood coming out of the mouth on that one, fucking straight death metal."
A message was then broadcast over a loudspeaker in the local dialect which, according to the freelance cameraman, Stephen Dupont, embedded with the 173rd Airborne Brigade, said: "Attention, Taliban, you are all cowardly dogs. You allowed your fighters to be laid down facing west and burned. You are too scared to come down and retrieve their bodies. This just proves you are the lady boys we always believed you to be."
The government of Afghanistan has demanded an investigation and punishment for those responsible. And again, we are guilty of
breaking Geneva Conventions:
Under the Geneva Conventions, soldiers must ensure that the "dead are honorably interred, if possible according to the rites of the religion to which they belonged."
Furthermore, the rules state that bodies should not be cremated, "except for imperative reasons of hygiene or for motives based on the religion of the deceased."
"I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent."
-- Mohandas K. Gandhi
Spotlight on Darfur
Read a
great collection of articles on the current situation in Darfur. What is the spotlight? A group of folks working with the
Coalition for Darfur who've come together to raise awareness on the issue. Why? Because ordinary citizens are able to put aside their differences (this is a very diverse group of blogs) and recognize that human life is more important than anything else. Now, if only we can convince our governments.
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.
Margaret Mead
Earth is getting hot! hot! hot!
That's right-global warming-it's real, it's ugly, and it isn't going away (no matter how much the Bush Administration protests).
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported that September 2005 is the
hottest on record, ever-globally. For the US it was the fourth hottest September ever with "the average temperature for the United States for September (based on preliminary data) was 2.6 degrees F (1.4 degrees C) above the mean for 1895-2004." Take into consideration that the last recorded ice age was set off by a temperature difference of 4 degrees globally, and you begin to see the significance of the issue.
The average global temperature anomaly for combined land and ocean surfaces for September (based on preliminary data) was 1.13 degrees F (0.63 degrees C) above the 1880-2004 long-term mean. This was the warmest September since 1880, the beginning of reliable instrumental records. The second warmest September was in 2003 with an anomaly of 1.02 degrees F (0.57 degrees C) above the mean. Land surface temperatures were highest on record for September with temperatures more than 5 degrees F (2.8 degrees C) above normal across large parts of Asia and North America. Ocean temperatures were third highest on record.
Add to this,
"the four hottest years globally [were]the last four years" and
continued melting of the ice caps, things aren't looking good. Unless of course you're part of the Bush Administration or the
Fox News network (which are the same thing aren't they?).
With all of the obvious effects of global warming coming to the fore, why on Earth would we reduce environmental protections? Oh yeah, that's right, we still have an oil tycoon in the White House who made sure that the refineries in Texas were protected for a Hurricane, but could care less about the actual people in New Orleans. I'm sure that it'll be much easier for him to continue to gut the Clean Air Act now that he can exploit the hurricane's affect on consumers at the gas pump. And he's doing just that:
The Bush administration proposed new regulations Thursday that could allow the nation's dirtiest power plants to release more air pollutants each year - and possibly undercut lawsuits aimed at forcing companies to comply with the Clean Air Act.
Add to that the damage Republicans are doing in the congress:
But Barton's Gasoline for America's Security Act includes provisions that could weaken clean-air regulations. Among them: a proposal that would allow the government to push back deadlines to comply with federal ozone standards in areas like Dallas-Fort Worth that are affected by pollution from other cities and states.
These provisions sparked fierce opposition from clean-air advocates and Democrats, who accused Barton and others of taking advantage of the hurricanes to try to gut laws protecting human health and the environment.
There's no sign that the planet will be cooling down anytime soon, at least if the US has anything to say about it. Considering that the US produces
"about 25 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions" and we refuse to join in any treaties or programs to reduce our emissions, like say the
Kyoto Treaty, we're rushing headlong into our own oblivion.
Bush: 'God told me to end the tyranny in Iraq'
There's not much I can really say about this piece, you need to read it yourself.
One of the delegates, Nabil Shaath, who was Palestinian foreign minister at the time, said: "President Bush said to all of us: 'I am driven with a mission from God'. God would tell me, 'George go and fight these terrorists in Afghanistan'. And I did. And then God would tell me 'George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq'. And I did."- the Guardian
It's not the first time God has been invoked in the reasoning for war, the crusades, the inquistion, and we see how well those turned out. I think they all might have missed a few passages of the bible, like:
Psalm 34:14 Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.
Romans 10:15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
Romans 15:33 Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.
Mark 9:50 Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.
Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Proverbs 16:7 When a man's ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.
1 Corinthians 14:33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.
1 Peter 3:11 Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.
2 Corinthians 13:11 Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.
James 3:17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
James 3:18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.
Hebrews 12:14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:
-King James Bible
Bush Administration Keeping Katrina Victims off of Medicaid
A bipartisan senate bill proposed by the Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Charles Grassley and Democrat Sen. Max Baucus, that would ease Medicaid eligibility requirements for storm victims, is
being blocked by the Bush Administration. The bill would also reimburse states 100% for the Medicaid costs, the states usually have to pick up at part of the bill.
Baucus said the Medicaid bill proposes the same provisions that were enacted after the September 11, 2001, attacks in New York, but action since the August 29 storm has been slow.
"It's been six weeks now. Where is the administration? It is slow-walking, it is opposing, it is obfuscating, it is delaying, it is not acting," he said.
While the politicians wrestle with the Bush administration, people in need of health care are being turned away:
In Louisiana, some 55 percent of hurricane evacuees who sought Medicaid assistance were denied, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported this week. But that figure only counted people in shelters and may be conservative, state health officials told the newspaper.
It's a long way from the
promises Bush made "We're also developing a comprehensive plan to immediately help displaced citizens. This will include housing and education and health care and other essential needs."
Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits.- Matthew 7:15-16
and on tv...
I was pleasantly surprised to find something actually worth watching the other day. If you haven't seen the new
Commander in Chief, you are missing a good show. The only problem is it might just be too real. Of course, I think we're more than ready
for a woman president.
stacking the courts
They took the house, they took the senate, they stole the presidency and then won re-election - now they are stacking the courts.
First, let me take a moment to ponder the ridiculousness of nominating someone with NO, none, zero, zip, nada, judicial experience. I've worked in an office, so naturally I should be hired as a CEO, right? Ridiculous notion isn't it? So is this nomination. There have been a few other justices who did not have judicial experience, but they at least clerked for the Supreme Court, that's a huge difference.
Not to mention, it seems like we have another Scalia on our hands. Why is that so important? Because O'Connor was a moderate whose swing vote upheld roe v. wade and many other important decisions. Miers appears to be a right-wing evangelical who Bush calls "a pit-bull in size six shoes."
Nathan L. Hecht, a Texas Supreme Court justice, has been a close companion of Miers since they first worked together for a Dallas law firm 30 years ago. His comments are the clearest indication to date of Miers' view on abortion  which, as with other issues she would be likely to face on the high court, is unknown.
Hecht is known as the most conservative member of the conservative Texas Supreme Court. "He's sort of the [Antonin] Scalia of that court: smart, aggressive and very conservative," said University of Texas law professor Douglas Laycock.
Hecht, a vocal opponent of the abortion right, said in an interview Tuesday that Miers shared his views. The two attend the evangelical Valley View Christian Church near Dallas.
"Harriet goes to a church that is pro-life. She has for 25 years," he said. "She gives them a lot of money. Her personal views lie in that direction." - Chicago Tribune
Wow, you go out of town for a few days and the Bush administration starts imploding, maybe I should go out of town more often.
