In two rulings, the Supreme Court has defined “natural born” of the Presidential candidate qualifications as being a child of a American citizen mother and father. Of course, President Obama’s father was Kenyan, not American. So how did he get nominated? The Democratic Party ignored the Supreme Court definition and put him on the ballot. Those pesky [...]
Category Archives: Law
Are You Ready for a Total Socialist Government?
Jan 28
Sometimes a simple question can become complicated. Perhaps the question should be, “Have we adjusted to the cultural change to the point that we are ready for a different form of government to control our new culture?” The culture sixty years ago was quite different from what is observed today. Why did it change so much [...]
Obama on Trial: Ballot Eligibility Hearing in Georgia Streamed Live
Jan 26
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*UPDATE: The ruling on this matter is in. Though Hillary Clinton rarely gets the credit anymore for it, she was the ‘mother’ of the ‘birther’ movement. While many people know the “birther” movement as one challenging President Obama’s birth certificate and birth place, there is another aspect of it that often gets overlooked. [...]
The State as Enabler
Nov 16
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One of the great challenges involved in the diagnosis of political pathology is the explanation of events. We see a field of misbehavior and dysfunction, and then endeavor to explain the chain of causality. Today, many of the explanations floating through our discourse are false, misdirected, or otherwise flawed. A prime example that passes through [...]
Awlaki: 1st American Disappeared by Obama…
Oct 11
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“Do what I say, not what I do” takes on reality when the same government lawyers who accused the last President of exceeding his war powers eagerly justify his successor’s use of assassination against an American. White House Lawyers Who Drafted Secret Awlaki Kill Memo Were Critics of Bush’s War Powers will tell you more. So [...]
Ken Burns’ “Prohibition” – One Heck of a Good Show
Oct 6
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Earlier this week, Ken Burns’ “Prohibition” premiered on every conservative’s least favorite network/channel – PBS. For a long time, this era has been an interesting period of our nation’s history for me and so I took the time to watch the three part mini-series (twice). What I did not realize, or at least had not [...]
It’s All on the 990
Sep 30
Please, consider this as somewhat of a public service announcement from someone who has worked in non-profit most of a career: Most of it is pretty profitable and the people pouring cash into them really don’t have the best interests of anyone but themselves at heart, no matter what the ads say. (Shocking, isn’t it?) [...]
Judge refuses to strike down parts of Alabama illegal alien law
Sep 28
US District Judge Sharon Blackburn today upheld most of Alabama’s new illegal immigration law. The law, known as HB 56, was passed this spring, but Judge Blackburn put it on hold in late August, before it could go into effect on September 1. Today, she placed four parts of the law on hold but allowed [...]
Obama Jobs Bill Waives States’ Constitutional Immunity
Sep 20
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The Bill says states using Federal money thereby waive their 11th Amendment immunity to lawsuits in Federal court. Obama’s Jobs Bill Ends State Soveriegnty tells the story. Is Obama sneakily depriving the states of their Constitutional soveriegnty as alleged? Here’s the bill as provided in the cited story: (Emphasis added at source) “SEC. 376. FEDERAL AND STATE [...]
Who Is Obama’s Revised Patent Rules Helping?
Sep 17
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Protecting inventors protects the economy, right? So Obama and Congress have reformed our patent law. Obama Signs U.S. Patent Reform Into Law tells all about it. Who is really protected here? Let’s look: The old system was first-to-invent; the new one is now first-to-file, like most of the rest of the world–which hasn’t competed with American [...]
CIA Expands Into Industrialized Assassination
Sep 2
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Our premier spy agency has expanded into industrialized assassination, killing over 2,000 “targets” and civilians over the last 10 years, as the Washington Post dryly puts it. CIA Shifts Focus To Killing Targets will tell you more. Is creation of an automated killing machine on such a scale wise? Is it moral? It’s too secret for those discussions to occur. [...]
Feds Raid Gibson Guitar for Using American Labor
Aug 27
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We have at least one change from Obama; the Justice Department raided Gibson Guitar for using American labor in its Tennessee plants, not for using illegals. Feds Raid Gibson Guitar for Using American Labor provides details. Seems the fancy rosewood in some guitars is imported from India-quite legally-and India has a law that requires Indians to [...]
We’re Being Watched
Aug 11
And now back to our regularly scheduled and pretty much justified paranoia…. The last week has been a whirlwind news-wise (are we sure it’s August?), what with the budget “deal” where no one got what they wanted other than the current Resident of the White House and the subsequent U.S. Government Securities/Bond notes downgrade to [...]
Are we sure Wal-Mart won?
Jun 20
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Today’s coverage of the Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. vs. Betty Dukes, et.al., presents a delicious microcosm of the state of American journalism. More or less, need a quote guaranteed to stoke some fires? Find “experts.” I thought I had read some of the dumbest, most inane and downright stupid comments over the years, but the “experts” [...]
Oklahoma court upholds State immigration law
Jun 15
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Oklahoma’s Supreme Court upheld the State’s anti-illegal immigration law on Tuesday, striking down only one provision of the 2007 legislation. By an 8-1 vote, the court decided that the section of House Bill 1804 that denied bail to illegal aliens arrested for felonies or driving under the influence was not constitutional. The ruling stated “Whether [...]
Coerced Into Virtue
In my last post, I reviewed a short book edited by Robert Bork that describes the Supreme Court’s attack on the Constitution and the rule of law. Now I would like to expand the discussion and consider a much broader work by the same author: A Time to Speak: Selected Writings and Arguments (2008). Read the rest of this entry
A Country I Do Not Recognize
May 27
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Of all the manifold aspects of cultural decay, one of the most difficult to recognize is the corruption of constitutional law. When one thinks of the Supreme Court, or even of the judiciary overall, the image that comes to mind is a procession of old, graying men in black robes, blowing their noses into crusty [...]
Malevolence vs. Benevolence
May 23
We are told that what happens in privacy between two consenting adults won’t affect us in any way. This is of course yet another malevolent lie propagated by the sodomite community and their political agenda. One of the victims of the homosexual agenda is Catholic Charities, a benevolent religious organization that endeavors to reduce poverty, [...]
Our Children, the Climate Change Plaintiffs
The regulatory aims of the EPA to curb CO2 emissions; the continued push for carbon cap and trade legislation; and, the ongoing attempts by the international body politic to arrive at an operating framework to address climate change, all of these are now joined by our children’s efforts to get the judiciary to act to protect the planet. Well, maybe not your child or mine, but some youths throughout the country are now plaintiffs in various lawfare battles intended to obtain from the courts what climate change activists cannot seem to accomplish through the legislative and regulatory processes. Read the rest of this entry
Bastiat’s The Law
Apr 28
“The law perverted! And the police powers of the state perverted along with it! The law, I say, not only turned from its proper purpose but made to follow an entirely contrary purpose! The law become the weapon of every kind of greed! Instead of checking crime, the law itself guilty of the evils it [...]
Obama friend arrested for soliciting prostitute
Don’t try to pin this on the prez. Not cool. But it shows that one should watch the friends they keep. Yahoo/AP have the story here.
Goldstone Recants! Will the Left Follow His Example?
Israel is vindicated when self-loathing Jew Richard Goldstone, the chair of the United Nations Human Rights Council’s fact-finding commission about the conflict in Gaza, has recanted the lie he sold to the world stating Israel was purposely trying to kill civilians.
Woman charged with email threats
Mar 31
Lovely. From the “stay classy” files comes this story posted at Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: According to the criminal complaint, Windels allegedly sent an email threat to State Sen. Robert Cowles (R-Green Bay) March 9. Later that evening, she allegedly sent another email to 15 Republican legislators, including Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau). The subject [...]
Laws to Stop Sharia Law
Mar 17
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Down in Austin, Texas, the legislature has in its hopper, a law to keep Islam’s sharia law from being used in Texas. Such laws have cropped up in Alabama, New Mexico, Arizona, Wyoming, Nebraska, South Dakota, Missouri, Arkansas, Florida and possibly three other states but I have not been able to identify which ones. Oklahoma passed a [...]
1st Amendment protects military funeral protesters
Scum they may be, but the 1st Amendment is there to protect trash like this. One never knows when that trash may be you.
The Threat of Civil Unrest in Pakistan and the Davis Case
I’m assuming that poor Pakistan, which has been neglected in the world news cycle as of late, has decided it needs to do something to remain relevant and newsworthy. There is a deep-seated hatred of America and much sympathy with the Taliban and its allies in Al Qaeda. A security officer, Raymond Davis, is the current hatred <em>du jour</em>, having killed two men who had tried, unsuccessfully, to rob him. The terrorist group Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) are demanding that Davis be executed. If the Obama Administration decides not to protect their man in Islamabad, it is my hope that Pakistan be incinerated by a more pro-American regime than the one we’re currently stuck with.
Egypt and Gun Control
A friend and I recently engaged in a brief discussion about a change (if any) in the dynamics of Egypt’s current revolt situation considering one difference… guns in the hands of the people. It makes one wonder. A proponent of individual gun rights, I find myself somewhat impressed at the results over there. Not only do the protesters not have arms, but the military is refraining from firing their weapons, other than “soft” ammunition when needed. Are the Egyptians just that much more civilized?
Stars Shine on Christian Researcher
Inside Higher Ed writes on a small victory for Christians involved in science. C. Martin Gaskell, a former University of Nebraska astronomer who was denied the opportunity to work at the University of Kentucky because of his evangelical Christian beliefs, has won a settlement from the offending university. Cross-posted at Apocatastasis.
Law Firm Suing Those Who Comment On Blogs
From the website of Flopping Aces comes an article that may be worth reading. ConClubbers, be careful where you get your links from. Boycott any of the sites listed here.
Mark Levin takes on the haters
People are talking a lot right now that the vitriol needs to be leveled down a lot. Problem is there are too many people that thrive on it. To me journalism hit the current low when Keith Olbermann went on MSNBC. I think he’s the worst editorialist in the world. The reason, well, just look:
His stuff is only partisan, is only personal, and is only inflammatory. When faced with a situation where he has no facts to support his argument, he resorts to mocking and trivializing the object of his scorn. At the very best he sounds immature. At the worst, not someone you want your kids around. He’s thrived on MSNBC even though I think most of his content borders on slander. Let’s look at slander a little closer, shall we?
Read the rest of this entry
Article Roundup for October 21, 2010
Silly season, where you find where so many people you called friends actually hate your opinions so much that they look like they’ll have a heart attack screaming about “Tea-baggers” or God-knows-what. Sometimes, scum does rise. Makes it easier to skim off of the coffee cup of your life. On to the news:
In China, it’s all about prosperity, not freedom by David Ignatius, Washington Post.
The West, and especially America, hopes that economic prosperity will lead to freedom. Not in China. Just enough financial comfort will buy temporary security, at least until the workers figure they’ve been had and revolt. If we’re going to use cheap labor, we should have found a stable African country loyal to America and let them gather some wealth rather than hand it to a future enemy, but meh…, what do I know, right?
Psst! A majority of Americans sees too much political correctness; even more say it’s a problem by Andrew Malcolm, Los Angeles Times.
Political Correctness needs to die a brutal, ugly death, so that it never raises its head ever again in the West. Don’t hold your breath if you’re talking about Europe, but it looks like a rather huge number, across the political spectrum, is sick of rabid, cowardly claptrap posing as sensitivity training. Gays, minorities, extremists, race-hucksters and everyone else are protecting by elites in academia and the Media, yet average Americans can’t voice their opinion? No, no. That has to end.
Barney Not-So-Frank by Thomas Sowell, National Review.
A poof and a liar. There. I said it. I loathe Barney Frank as a politician, and I hope he’s drummed out on his puckered rump after all he’s done to ruin the housing sector.
Tea Party Neophytes Outshine the Dems’ Old Pros by Michael Barone.
To those former friends who show their contempt for the Tea Party, I’d like for them to show me where the politicians, those Yalies and Harvard grads, have done good for the country in the past decade. Let’s face it: you can’t. The trash needs to be swept out. Now. It’s true that people like Sharron Angle and Christine O’Donnell are not rocket scientists. In fact, they do say some stupid things. Take a look at reels of Barbara Boxer and Harry Reid (hell, Joe Biden is a fine demonstration of idiocy all to himself), and tell me, with a straight face, that these are any better.
Sayyid Qutb’s America by Robert Siegel, NPR.
After the cowardly act of firing Juan Williams for stating a truism last night, I will not be linking to too many NPR articles anymore. However, I dug this one out of a pile of links I have in my bookmarks folder. It is a history of the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, a prudish, pathetic little man whose lack of sexual relations may have helped ruin his brain enough to resort to fundamentalist terrorism. It may be worth your time doing a Google search on Qutb just to see how creepy he and his fellow extremist godfathers were. We forget too quickly who our enemies are in this country.
Tariq Ramadan: Propagandist in Scholar’s Robes by Rebecca Bynum, New English Review.
Speaking of extremists, here is one who has pulled of his own version of jihad in the universities. It is a shame he wasn’t sent packing permanently years ago.
Americans Wake Up to Islamism by Daniel Pipes, Middle East Forum.
Americans have been awake to this pernicious evil for a long time. The problem is that the political elites (and though it pains me a bit to say this, we must include George Bush in this matter) bent over so far backwards to coddle Muslims that the citizenry has been wondering whose side they were on. Despite hectoring from groups like CAIR, the racism card (I know, Islam is not a race – tell them that) has been shriveled into utter uselessness.
The Threat from Islamic Intimidation on Freedom of Speech by The Redhunter.
More fallout from the Geert Wilders decision over his alleged ‘hate speech’. The blog, in and of itself, makes for some rather interesting reading, so take time to check out Redhunter’s other articles as well.
The View from California by Bill Whalen, National Review.
God bless Bill Whalen. As a native Californian (though I’ll be happy to leave if Jerry Brown wins the governor’s race), his article gives me pause to hope that this state isn’t completely dominated by morons.
Cross-posted at RudyCarrera.com.
Police Brutality in Colorado – Enough is Enough
“Every day that I shave, I still have the memory of the night from the nerve damage in my face. Every time I put on socks, I still have the memory of that night because of the scars on my ankle. If the FBI, after their investigation, wants to file federal charges against them, then I think that would be absolutely justified and I don’t think it would be out of line.”
- Shawn Johnson, speaking about his permanent injuries after a beating by Denver police for using a women’s restroom in LoDo.
Just up the interstate from me is the Denver metro area. Unfortunately, for many years, we have experienced a constant stream of questionable shootings and police beatings (another here) with little being done about it by anyone in authority. With the increasing prevalence of video cameras and cell phones some of these are starting to get caught on tape. Here are just two of the most recent incidents that are now dominating the local news every night. What makes this all the more interesting is that the current Denver mayor is running for governor and has gone from covering these incidents up to now playing Pontius Pilate and washing his hands of the entire thing. No concept of leadership or taking responsibility but only now as the press and community are howling for blood has he reopened the case and turned it over to the FBI to make a determination if the first incident below was appropriate. The second and more recent incident is “under investigation” as well.
Tossing the Defense of Marriage Act
A federal judge in Massachusetts tossed out the federal Defense of Marriage Act. His logic, get this, is it encroaches on states. Here’s Federal Judge Joseph Tauro’s Ruling On DOMA:
Now, this is where being conservative gets fun for me. I’m with Judge Tauro 100%. First, let’s clear the air a litte bit:
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Obama’s speech on immigration
Obama just gave a speech on immigration. I was told it was coming. He had totally lost the leadership role on the issue and needed to get it back. So, expect a speech. Well, we just got it. He spoke at length on the merits of legal immigrants. People who moved to the US and made the US a better place, their lives better, and the entire world. He spoke of the huddled masses who work their fingers to the bone 20 hours every day so their poor but honest children can have a better life. He spoke of the horrible people trying to take all that away.
What he never mentioned was the drug trafficking, the human trafficking, the murders, the violence, and other stuff that’s gotten so bad his own Homeland Security people decided to put up signs:
Border Sign
The first word on the sign, in big letters, says “DANGER”. Obama never mentioned the signs.
Read the rest of this entry
Attacks on the Electoral College Gain Momentum
Tara Ross posts on some stealth sneakiness by Democrats over at National Review’s Corner. The Electoral College, the venerable institution that sets us apart from other nations in controlling mob democracy, is in danger, and no one in the MSM is talking about it.
Cross-posted at RudyCarrera.com.
Don’t blame your messenger – Sotomayor said it!
“All of the legal defense funds out there, they’re looking for people with Court of Appeals experience. Because it is — Court of Appeals is where policy is made,” she said. “And I know, and I know, that this is on tape, and I should never say that. Because we don’t ‘make law,’ I know. [Laughter from audience] Okay, I know. I know. I’m not promoting it, and I’m not advocating it. I’m, you know. [More laughter] Having said that, the Court of Appeals is where, before the Supreme Court makes the final decision, the law is percolating. Its interpretation, its application.”
At Berkeley…
“I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life,”
Still, Judge Sotomayor questioned whether achieving impartiality “is possible in all, or even, in most, cases.” She added, “And I wonder whether by ignoring our differences as women or men of color we do a disservice both to the law and society.”
She also approvingly quoted several law professors who said that “to judge is an exercise of power” and that “there is no objective stance but only a series of perspectives.”
One man’s empathy is another man’s apathy
Shortly after David Souter announced his retirement, we were treated to the legal worldview of President Obama. Far from being an advocate of sound constitutional legal reasoning, Obama indicated he would look for other “qualities” more suited for the legislature than the bench:
“We need somebody who’s got the heart to recognize–the empathy to recognize what it’s like to be a young teenage mom, the empathy to understand what it’s like to be poor or African-American or gay or disabled or old. And that’s the criteria by which I’m going to be selecting my judges.”
Profound.
Can anyone think of a worse way to select someone who will then determine the Constitutionality of law? Better put; where does empathy on the bench fit when the Court decides it’s most recent cases involving identity theft, environmental clean up liability, and juvenile sentencing (this fall)? In a case involving a homeowner, should the empathy lie with the tenant or the landlord? When Obama spouts nonsense about empathy, he is clearly playing to the base that wrongly believes the Supreme Court was created to decide nothing but abortion and civil rights cases. In fact, the staple of the SCOTUS diet is administrative law, bankruptcy, civil procedure, securities regulation and other boring procedural battles that require less empathy and more knowledge.
I have no illusions that Obama will appoint a strict Constitutionalist cut in the mold of Roberts or Alito. But with his nonsensical statement, it is clear that he is likely to appoint someone who is only there to appease the braying masses calling for judicial payback.
But at least they will be empathetic to teenage girls or old people.
When common sense is replaced by nonsense
This is outrageous and ridiculous. We’ve been following this on the news for the last couple of nights. Our society is so twisted and idiotic that logic no longer reigns and intellectual discretion is just a shadow of a memory. Such “pretend to make us safe” laws do little or nothing to protect lives and when administered incorrectly like in this case, actually serve to make a mockery of the rule of Law itself.
Plastic drill team prop earns student 10-day suspension
Student’s predicament prompts lawmakers to seek change in law
What makes the East Coast so weird anyway?
We’ve got our own little piece of snobby, California-lite liberaldom here in Colorado. It’s called Boulder and though I have met some decent folk there they are definitely a minority. I wouldn’t live there for anything. Not a chance. While we often laugh and poke fun at the idiocy that often emanates from the various crevasses and pits of the nation they really can’t be ignored. They challenge basic concepts like marriage and are laying the ground for things like carbon and consumption taxes and rigorous regulation of every aspect of your daily life. This is just another step in that direction and that day is coming. Mark my words.
Undoubtedly some day I’ll be sitting around with the missus in my loincloth stoking the illegal fire with wild animal dung telling the disbelieving grandchildren about the distant past when we actually possessed something known as “motorized transportation” and “electricity”. They will wag their heads in shock and horror at the thought that we once spewed poison in the air and fed such ancient monstrosities upon carbon based fuels.
A Global Warming Howler for the New Year
Pursuant to Assembly Bill 1229, a sticker displaying a rank comparing “the emissions of global warming gases from the vehicle with the average projected emissions of global warming gases from all vehicles of the same model year sold in the state” must be affixed to all motor vehicles henceforth sold in the state. These so-called “Global Warming Scores” range from 1 to 10, with 1 representing a vehicle selfishly emitting an excess of 520 “CO2 – equivalent Grams per mile” and 10 given to those altruistically checking in at under 200.Okay, so CO2 grams emitted per mile would appear a tangible, albeit excruciatingly inconsequentially silly, measure. But just what is a “CO2 – equivalent?”
Obama’s “Natural Born” Problem
By now you are probably aware that there have been a multitude of lawsuits filed in regards to the question of whether or not President-elect Barack Obama is in fact eligible under the “natural born” provision of the Constitution of the United States of America to be the President of the United States.
The Constitutional provisions are very specific when it comes to the minimal qualifications for President. One is to be over thirty-five. He is. Two, is being in the country fourteen years. He has been. Three, is to be a natural-born citizen. The latter remains unproven, a matter of contention, and appears to be increasingly unlikely to be true.
There are several variations on this theme, but the general and most often made argument is relatively simple and straightforward.
The Plaintiff in one of the filed suits put it this way.
Horowitz: Shut up about Birth Certificate “scandal”
In a post a few days ago, Dave seems to ride the fence between being upset that Obama may have been born in Kenya (and therefore Constitutionally unfit for office) and resignation that it is no big deal. I tend to think that Dave is more intellectually curious about the in’s and out’s of how it is all playing out than feeling outraged by some possible birth requirement, but I could be wrong. When I said that Obama’s mother was from Kansas and the point is moot, Dave wrote:
There is a bit more to it than that E, and Obama’s mother and her various residencies in Kenya and Indonesia and her age at that time do not fall within “the rules” for little Barry to be an American citizen if he was, indeed, born in Kenya.
For the record, I think the Presidential requirment to be born in the United States is as dumb as the 18th Amendment. And it just so happens that the same type of people who supported the Volstead Act also believe that Obama should be disqualified from office. Ultimately, I think David Horowitz sums the argument up nicely:
The continuing efforts of a fringe group of conservatives to deny Obama his victory and to lay the basis for the claim that he is not a legitimate president is embarrassing and destructive. The fact that these efforts are being led by Alan Keyes, a demagogue who lost a Senate election to the then-unknown Obama by 42 points, should be a warning in itself.
. . .The birth-certificate zealots are essentially arguing that 64 million voters should be disenfranchised because of a contested technicality as to whether Obama was born on U.S. soil. (McCain narrowly escaped the problem by being born in the Panama Canal zone, which is no longer American.)
What difference does it make to the future of this country whether Obama was born on U.S. soil? Advocates of this destructive campaign will argue that the constitutional principle regarding the qualifications for president trumps all others. But how viable will our Constitution be if five Supreme Court justices should decide to void 64 million ballots?
Conservatives are supposed to respect the organic nature of human societies. Ours has been riven by profound disagreements that have been deepening over many years. We are divided not only about political facts and social values, but also about what the Constitution itself means. The crusaders on this issue choose to ignore these problems and are proposing to deny the will of 64 million voters by appealing to five Supreme Court Justices (since no one is delusional enough to think that the four liberal justices are going to take the presidency away from Obama). What kind of conservatism is this?
The Obama “natural born citizen clause” case is dismissed
I guess I’m somewhat glad that I’m not the only one to ask that question.
Who Enforces the Constitution’s Natural Born Citizen Clause?
…In deciding that “a candidate’s ineligibility under the Natural Born Citizen Clause does not result in an injury in fact to voters,” Judge Surrick writes in a footnote of potentially considerable consequence:
If, through the political process, Congress determines that citizens, voters, or party members should police the Constitution’s eligibility requirements for the Presidency, then it is free to pass laws conferring standing on individuals like Plaintiff. Until that time, voters do not have standing to bring the sort of challenge that Plaintiff attempts to bring . . .
Well, there you have it then…
More CEO prosecutions coming down the pipe
In early 2007, before former Qwest CEO Joe Nacchio stood trial for the egregious crime of losing money for his company, I wrote of the debacle and published subsequent follow-ups to the trial. The problem as I saw them at the time was that the use of aggressive accounting practices can often be construed to imply “illegal” accounting practices. Moreover, I said, and still believe, that the very act of presiding over rapidly decline stock values has now become the new social injustice that requires former CEO’s to pay with their freedom. Now in the Age of the Bailout, there will be no shortage of individuals calling for the prosecution of CEO’s simply because they had the temerity to get out while the ‘gettin was good.’ John Schoen may be one such individual. Writing for MSNBC, Schoen answers consumer questions about the bailout. The first question he answers is about charging the rascals behind the financial mess:
Trillions of dollars worth of these investments were sold based on intricate computer models that turned out to be fatally flawed. Unwinding this mess will take time. So will piecing together the lengthy paper trail to show a jury just how these schemes worked. . .
. . . In some cases, the people who created these now-worthless investments sincerely believed they were smart enough to turn a risky, sub-prime mortgage into a perfectly safe investment. It was all right there in the computer.
Unfortunately, stupidity is not a crime.
Unfortunately indeed! Because then we would be required to lock up beat financial writers who advocate mass imprisonment of CEO’s. I guess he thinks following computer models is a criminal activity only after the computer model doesn’t produce the desired outcome. Nevermind the fact that his entire investment portfolio is regulated by one giant computer model!
It should be noted that he also answered a question about “why we can’t just divy up the $700 billion between every American so that we can pay off debt and start businesses?” Giving a voice to the imbeciles only validates their misguided and uninformed economic opinions. Apparently the average American believes that this is a game of monopoly and the banker just needs to hand out more cash.
Oh, and don’t forget to throw Rich Uncle Pennybags in jail and don’t let him pass Go!
The Courage to do Nothing
There is an increasing backlash against the biggest government meddling in private enterprise, and its takeover of whole sectors of the economy, since FDR. (Though wait until Obama tries to ram his ‘universal health care’ down your throat). The ‘whisper’ campaign against socialist notions and bailing out Wall Street ”big men” is beginning to be heard. Idiocy and massive greed got “them” to this point. Why is it my responsibility to help them get “out of it”? Actions have consequences and chickens come home to roost.
At least a few GOP’ers had the unmitigated gall to at least question why the US taxpayer should be doubly screwed; first by the banks and mortgage companies charging outrageous interest rates on “adjustable” rate mortgages once the initial “tease” rate is expired and the “homeowner” is unable to finance, and then as a taxpayer paying for the pathetically poor decision making of banks and mortgage companies.
I have customers coming in who lost their homes when their interest rates jumped to 13% and even higher on very modest priced middle class homes. Most people can’t afford a jump from $1100 a month to $2500 a month and the casualty rate among the middle class due to the insatiable greed, fraud and get rich manipulations of large numbers of unscrupulous people is staggering. Those holding the billions in potentially bad mortgage debt should be forced to negotiate with homeowners instead of bailed out by those same people now wearing the label of US taxpayer. With the government stepping in we will only be back to business as usual instead of changing the way business has been practiced in the past.
I’m not taking a hundred percent stand one way or the other on this bailout (not that it matters) and I could still be persuaded to support it, but I am suspicious of it and am glad to see some voices of caution being raised about what is now happening in D.C. As far as I can see, this does very little for the little guy, and that concerns me greatly as one of the little guys who will be desperately attempting to refinance at the end of the month to avoid possibly becoming just another statistic in two short years. The key has got to be to stop the massive cycle of foreclosures and help keep people in their houses. Anything else seems to be just putting more “lipstick on the pig”.
Quotable: “‘Just because God created the world in seven days doesn’t mean we have to pass this bill in seven days,’ said Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas.”
Or at all.
Damn those law abiding citizens!!
The SCOTUS ruling restoring common sense to gun ownership in Washington D.C. most certainly has gun grabbers throughout the nation wringing their hands. In Chicago, Mayor Richard Daley is piping hot!
An “outraged” Mayor Daley this morning denounced a U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning Washington D.C.’s handgun ban as a “frightening decision” and a “return to the days of the Wild West.”
Frightening indeed! As safe as Chicago is, one can only ponder the reasons why one would cling to God or guns. From the A.P.:
But all the talk about greater freedoms for gun owners doesn’t begin to explain what the ruling means in Chicago, which has seen a recent spate of gun violence.
Nine people were killed in 36 shootings during one weekend this spring. The next week, five people were found shot to death inside a South Side home.
Chicago Public Schools officials say 27 students have been killed by gunfire since September.
Pamela Bosley lost her 18-year-old son two years ago, when a bullet struck him as he helped a fellow student unload instruments outside a South Side Church.
“If you didn’t have the guns, we’d still have our children,” she said.
Annette Nance-Holt, whose 16-year-old son was killed on a city bus last spring when someone sprayed bullets inside it, was livid with the court’s decision.
“I’m still trying to figure out who we are more in love with, our children or our guns,” she said. “It’s crazy. I’m safer being a deer knowing people are hunting you.”
I wonder what they put in the water in Chicago that makes the population there so devoid of common sense? With the toughest gun laws on the books they seem perplexed as to why gun violence continues to be out of control?! Daley rails about the days of the “wild west” seemingly unaware that wild west towns never had weekends with 36 shootings.
Oh, and I won’t spend too much time looking for the ACLU or Glenn Greenwalds statements of gratitude that peoples constitutional rights in many big cities are going to be restored. For them, the Constitutional Amendments begin at one and skip to four and beyond.
Glenn Greenwald is absolutely correct. . . sort of
I often rail about the hate-mongers on the left who base their policy support and opposition only on whether or not Bush is for or against it. Such hacks show no propensity to think outside of what the nutroot blogs tell them to think. So when Glenn Greenwald has a minor spat with Keith Olbermann over FISA, I am comforted by the fact that the savy Greenwald is at least a man of principle.
This episode doesn’t really originate with either Greenwald nor Olbermann. It actually centers around yet another Barack Obama flip-flop (shocker!). Apprently, after vehement opposition last year, Obama is now planning to vote for an update to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The update he supports will give telecoms immunity from prosecution if they cooperate with the government’s Terrorist Surveillance Program. Greenwald wrongly opposes such immunity and believes that lawsuits are an acceptable way to protect the Fourth Amendment rights of citiznes. Olbermann also opposed such immunity going so far as to rant against it in one of his “Special Comments” last January. Greenwald details the rest:
In a 10-minute “Special Comment,” the MSNBC star condemned Bush for wanting to “retroactively immunize corporate criminals,” and said that telecom immnity is “an ex post facto law, which would clear the phone giants from responsibility for their systematic, aggressive and blatant collaboration with [Bush's] illegal and unjustified spying on Americans under this flimsy guise of looking for any terrorists who are stupid enough to make a collect call or send a mass email.”
Olbermann added that telecom amnesty was a “shameless, breathless, literally textbook example of Fascism — the merged efforts of government and corporations that answer to no government.” Noting the numerous telecom lobbyists connected to the Bush administration.
But as Greenwald notes, that was “five whole months ago.”
Now that Barack Obama supports a law that does the same thing — and now that Obama justifies that support by claiming that this bill is necessary to keep us Safe from the Terrorists — everything has changed.
Last night, Olbermann invited Newsweek‘s Jonathan Alter onto his show to discuss Obama’s support for the FISA and telecom amnesty bill (video of the segment is here). There wasn’t a syllable uttered about “immunizing corporate criminals” or “textbook examples of Fascism” or the Third Reich. There wasn’t a word of rational criticism of the bill either. Instead, the two media stars jointly hailed Obama’s bravery and strength — as evidenced by his “standing up to the left” in order to support this important centrist FISA compromise:
Make no mistake about it; Olbermann, Alter and Obama are snakes. Obama will say or do anything to get elected. Alter is perfectly content to whore himself and his magazine out to the left and Olbermann doesn’t have a shred of credibility with his unhinged, hate-filled tirades against George Bush (You SIR!). But on this issue, they are correct. Greenwald, on the other hand, is a fringe left constitutionalist who recently wrote a book about manipulative electoral tactics used by the GOP ignoring the stellar voting patterns of Democrats.
But on this issue, at least he is consistent. I encourage you to pick through the links and the replies by Olbermann on DailyKos. He only makes more of an ass of himself as he tries to defend his 180 degree turn.
Your freedom hangs by a thread
The stunning part of today’s SCOTUS ruling was not that the right of individuals to utilize their second amendment rights was upheld, but that gun grabbing liberal judges who love to legislate from the bench voted against today’s ruling. What should have been a no-brainer, unanimous decision instead shows how an Obama presidency and his future Supreme Court nominees would be incredibly dangerous to the rights of the individual. Equally stunning would have been SCOTUS ruling that you have the right to attend church or blog your thoughts on the Internet. The Founders were very clear that the right of the individual to keep and bear arms was not to be questioned and was almost universally exercised at the time. So three cheers for liberty, and a wake up call at the society that “progressives’ desire for us all. I suggest we all celebrate by picking up another gun or two and some ammo and head on out to the range. God Bless America!
High court affirms guns rights in historic decision
President Bush said: “I applaud the Supreme Court’s historic decision today confirming what has always been clear in the Constitution: the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear firearms.”
The full implications of the decision, however, are not sorted out. Still to be seen, for example, is the extent to which the right to have a gun for protection in the home may extend outside the home.
Scalia said the Constitution does not permit “the absolute prohibition of handguns held and used for self-defense in the home.” The court also struck down D.C. requirements that firearms be equipped with trigger locks or kept disassembled, but left intact the licensing of guns. The district allows shotguns and rifles to be kept in homes if they are registered, kept unloaded and taken apart or equipped with trigger locks.
See also:
McCain: Obama’s gun position ‘elitist’
McCain hailed the ruling as a “landmark victory” for gun rights. Referring to remarks Obama made during the primary campaign, McCain said Obama is out of touch with Americans on gun rights.
“Unlike the elitist view that believes Americans cling to guns out of bitterness, today’s ruling recognizes that gun ownership is a fundamental right — sacred, just as the right to free speech and assembly,” the Arizona senator said.
That deserves an “atta boy” for the senior senator from Arizona.
For the left, environmentalism trumps national security
In the previous post, Dave pointed out the true intentions of the modern day green movement. While environmentalism is a minor concern, the true intention of the watermelon left (green on the outside, red on the inside) is nothing less than socialist-style control over individuals, families, and businesses. Certainly the economic interests of the American nation-state are of no concern to them. And most assuredly, America’s national security is at the bottom of their wish list. To illustrate this, one needs to only look at the responses to two Supreme Court decisions regarding national security.
This morning, the Supreme Court refused to hear one case and review another case involving national security and worries over environmental issues. The Court refused to hear a case involving environmental attempts to halt construction of 700 miles of security fence along the southern border. Normally, the building of such a fence would require the multiple layers of slow, difficult environmental reviews that other public and private projects are forced to endure. Although I am not crazy about the government not following its own dictates, I think it is smart to charge on toward the construction of the wall. The environmental reviews are costly and time consuming and will do nothing but give time for millions of illegals to continue to pour through the open borderlands. The Sierra Club is up in arms over the construction. Oliver Bernstien, a spokesman for the group said, “This decision leaves one man — the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security — with the extraordinary power to ignore any and all of the laws designed to protect the American people, our lands, and our natural resources,” Of course only a rabid environmentalist would believe that a fence designed to protect the American people doesn’t meet its intended goal. But I’m sure his intentions are to protect the arid desert lands of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California, right? Right? And Democratic Representative Bennie Thompson believes the use of the waiver authority will only spare the Homeland Security Department from addressing “the real issue: their lack of a comprehensive border security plan.” Hmmm. . . it seems to me that building a wall is squarely at the top of most peoples border security plan. Call me kooky.
In the case the Court agreed to review, a lower court stopped the navy from using a powerful sonar off of the coast of southern California. The sonar is apparently too strong and environmentalists fear it will hurt or disorient the poor whales and dolphins. I am sure that there is no proof of harm, but in the world of radical environmentalism, one only needs to speculate before that theory becomes gospel. After all, environmentalists are the only people in the world who can ring the siren of impending doom to the earth and have it met with anything but sneers or straight jackets. The Administration argued that claims of harm to aquatic wildlife were being exaggerated. This line of reasoning seems entirely plausible since entire careers have been made by exaggerating claims. Just ask Al Gore.
Both cases illustrate just how far removed from common sense we have wandered. The lands, resources, creatures and plants are all very nice and necessary in our free society. But if we entrust aquatic life to protect our national security, then it better have a big ‘A’ for a belt buckle and be able to command the force of thousands of animals to reap destruction on evil doers. Frankly, I would just prefer the goverment have the ability to detect sea-bourne danger and keep out those that don’t belong without having to use the bat signal or any other environmentally nefarious device.
Dave’s Quote(s) of the Day
“Now that the Supreme Court has seen fit to affirm a variety of rights of terror suspects held at Guantanamo, a new book is out exposing the harsh realities of Gitmo—the diet on which detainees have gained weight—the soccer fields and basketball courts—the letters home about mild weather and beautiful sunsets—and the detainees who don’t want to leave.”
”Once upon another time, namely Franklin Roosevelt’s, most of a group of German saboteurs that had infiltrated this country were caught, tried by a military tribunal that was convened by executive order for that purpose, promptly convicted and then executed—all within seven weeks. Can anyone imagine that kind of swift and effective justice from this court?”
Dave’s Quote(s) of the Day
“The Constitution shall never be construed… to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms.” -Samuel Adams
“The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered, as the palladium of the liberties of the republic; since it offers a strong moral check against usurpation and arbitrary power of the rulers; and will generally, even if these are successful in the first instance, enable the people to resist and triumph over them.”
-Justice Joseph Story, appointed to the Supreme Court by the Constitution’s principal author, James Madison, in his Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States (1833),
And the Polygamists win one!
Removal of sect kids “not warranted”
Interestingly enough, this entire sad episode was triggered by a fake call from a lady in Denver who had strung police along for a year or so pretending to be different underage girls calling from the compound. In my opinion, you either have to smash polygamists cults and compounds completely so there won’t be another generation perpetrating the traditions and teachings that have continued unabated and virtually unchanged since the days of Brigham Young, or you keep a closer eye on them, tell them to cut out the underage marriages and basically leave them alone to practice their beliefs as they wish. The courts today decided the latter.
Texas Polygamy Case Appears to be Unraveling
The case that was begun with a bogus phone call, now appears to be getting crushed under the weight of overzealousness. In a sharp rebuke, a Texas court has ruled that the state’s outrageous assertion that 434 compound children were part of a single family cannot stand.
This case has proceeded like so many similar ones:
1) The government raids an unpopular group
2) The government releases lurid and inflamatory “facts” through a professional PR organization
3) The media and the public compete to see who can offer the most severe condemnation of the unpopular group
4) Slowly, it emerges that many of the government’s claims turn out to be outright lies
5) Courts and/or the media shake off the initial story and begin to reveal the truth
6) Immediately, everyone loses interest, the government loses (or presses on) and the shattered unpopular group is left to pick up the pieces
The Idiocy of it all….
Will the government, and our liberal progressive friends, ever get it through their heads that we are neither serfs, slaves nor subjects but free and sovereign citizens?
This was shamelessly lifted from Instapundit…
FROM THE EXAMINER, an editorial on those half-cocked D.C. gun searches:
If the U.S. Supreme Court seemed on the verge of finding the D.C. government guilty of violating its citizens’ First Amendment rights, would the D.C. police be going door to door looking for printing presses to confiscate? Of course not. It would be unthinkable. Civil libertarians would be — to use an apt phrase (figuratively speaking) — up in arms. But when the civil liberty at issue is the right to bear those arms, as protected by the Second Amendment rather than the First, District officials seem determined to leave no gun unturned in. . . .
The program has drawn criticism not just from gun-rights lobbies such as the National Rifle Association but also from the National Black Police Association and the American Civil Liberties Union. No matter how much respect and support police officers deserve, there is still an intimidation factor involved any time an officer is on one’s doorstep, such that the “permission” may not seem as voluntary as police mean it to be. So where does this end? How long before Lanier sends police into selected neighborhoods — selected by whom and on what basis? — asking to search homes for marijuana, terrorist literature, evidence of intent to commit a crime, fireworks or Cuban cigars? Lanier is establishing a precedent that would have horrified the founders of this republic.
Tenth Circuit: Nacchio Gets New Trial
As E the Wise and I had previously revealed here on Conclub, Joe Nacchio’s trial was another example of a politicized prosecution and the bigotry of the masses. Now, the Court of Appeals has thrown out the conviction and ordered a new trial. If Nacchio is as stupid as he was at his last trial, he will again hire Herb Stern to defend him. Stern will again do a piss poor job, and Nacchio will again be convicted. If he’s smart, he’ll hire an expert criminal defense lawyer (rather than a corporate specialist like Stern).
Supreme Court Appears Ready to Affirm Second Amendment
The US Supreme Court seemed sympathetic today to arguments that the 2nd Amendment protects a personal right to firearms.
I’ve always believed that this is clearly the correct judgement, but also that the whole controversy could have been avoided had the Founders correctly punctuated the Amendment.
It reads: “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”
The first and last commas are superfluous. A comma would be necessary in these spots only if it were seperating two independent clauses, which it is not. In the first instance, it is seperating two dependent clauses. In the latter, it is seperating an independent from a dependent clause.
Correctly punctuated, the sentence becomes clearer. The first clause (“A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, …”) is merely explanatory, and thus the weight of the law is entirely on the second clause (“… the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”
Trans-fats, nicotene and playing cards
If our friend Steve Horner has taught us anything in his continued quest to make a dollar, it is that there is nothing that the shameless American money-hound won’t do. And as Horner has demonstrated time and again with his comments on our threads, there is something rather rancid about those who use our courts as a means to pad their retirement portfolio. And so it is with Arelia Taveras.
Taveras was an attorney and TV commentator that became a compulsive gambler. This ambitious and successful young lady became so addicted that she lost everything.
She lost her law practice, her apartment and her parents’ home, and she owes the IRS $58,000. She said she even considered swerving into oncoming traffic to kill herself.
In interviews with The Associated Press, Taveras admitted she dipped into her clients’ escrow accounts to finance her gambling habit. She was disbarred last June and faces criminal charges stemming from those actions, but is trying to work out restitution agreements in order to avoid a prison term.
She is apparently angry that the casino let her gamble for days at a time non-stop. She seems exasperated that she could even bring her small dog with her to the blackjack table in her purse. And as with similar cases in various industries, the blame never lies with the individual.
Update: I was thinking that if anyone happens to get hooked on cigarettes that you roll yourself with a zig-zag injector, you might have a possible lawsuit against Conclub’s own Hairy Beast. That post is from his archives before we managed to sway his artistic talents our way.
Dave’s Quote(s) of the Day
“A living Constitution judge is a happy fellow who comes home at night to his wife and says, ‘The Constitution means exactly what I think it ought to mean!’ ” – Supreme Court Justice Scalia
Shortly after Bill Clinton was first elected, a clerk told Chief Justice Rehnquist that the new president was thinking of nominating his wife as attorney general. His response: “They say Caligula appointed his horse counsel of Rome.”
(quotes from The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin)
Glenn Greenwald Proven to be Wrong
Truth be told, not only Greenwald but almost all liberal bloggers, including Conclub’s own Andre the Defiant, have now been slapped down by American courts.
[NOTE: I apologize for the absence of links; the communications I reference here pre-dated ConClub's transition to WordPress and its search capabilities.]
When it was revealed that the Bush administration was trying to eavesdrop on terrorists, many commentators offered their analysis of the legalities involved. At the time, Glenn Greenwald insisted that the program was clearly illegal, and that anyone who argued otherwise was lying.
Andre bought this line of reasoning, prompting me to do two things: 1) I utterly refuted Glenn Greenwald’s embarrassingly ignorant legal arguments, and 2) I stated that I welcomed a Supreme Court analysis because I promised that the Court would uphold the program.
After a radical Detroit judge initially ruled against the plan in an opinion that was almost universally recognized as ignorant, Greenwald and others bragged, but I all-but-guaranteed that the Supreme Court would jettison the comical Detroit opinion and ultimately uphold the intelligence program.
Now, in a slightly-reported decision, everything I said would happen, did. The program is legal, and the Greenwald assertion that suggested that anyone who thought otherwise was a rogue conspirator, has been proven (as I said at the time) to be the ravings of a lunatic.
Dave’s Quote of the Day
“Looking forward to the next presidency, we see that Justice Stevens is 87,
Justice Ginsburg 74, Justices Kennedy and Scalia 71, Justice Breyer 69 and
Justice Souter 68. Perhaps all will be sitting in January 2013. Perhaps all
will be retired. Voters who care about the Supreme Court ought to assume that
the next president will have an impact on the future course of the Supreme
Court greater than any president in modern times. The Court of course affects
every aspect of American life, from the conduct of the war to the protection
of the unborn, the right to worship and speak freely, the right to bear arms
and the right to be free from intrusive governmental oversight. The Court can
chose to protect private property or, as has been the case for decades, almost
completely ignore this foundational right. The Court is the country’s future
in many respects, and the president is the keeper of the court.”
Tim Masters: Free at Last
Today, Tim Masters was released from prison in a suit bought for him by his tireless attorneys, David Wymore and Maria Liu. Meanwhile, comeuppance may be on the way.
Mere hours after the release of Tim Masters, the Weld County District Attorney held a press conference signifying a new chapter in the case….
Now, Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck has been appointed as a special prosecutor to look into alleged misconduct with the Fort Collins police department.
“I won’t name anybody particularly, but (we’re investigating) individuals within the Fort Collins police department, and the scope involved possible perjury and illegal wiretapping,” Buck said.
Update: Be sure to also read the story of Tim Masters as Conclub covered it here, here and here. It’s a compelling story that all who are concerned about justice should read.
Dave’s Quote of the Day
CULTURE
“Abortion on demand cannot be seen in isolation from social breakdown. In 1973, near the end of the Vietnam War and the approaching resignation of President Nixon two years later, the focus on self, pleasure and convenience by Baby Boomers was at its height. marriages easily dissolved as ‘no fault’ divorce laws were passed; cohabitation and out-of-wedlock births were on the rise; ‘unwanted babies’ (who were labeled ‘products of conception’ to make it easier to deny the obvious) became an impediment to the pursuit of pleasure and material gain. Abortion was not a cause, but a reflection of our decadence and deviancy. One does not begin to kill babies until other dominos have fallen. And once they have fallen, it becomes difficult to set them aright because to do so would require an admission of something so horrible that those responsible for this fetal holocaust would have to acknowledge their sin and repent of it. Such a thing is not a character trait of this most pampered generation. In recent years there have been signs that things may be—if not turning around—then moderating… Politicians and judges could help bury Roe by requiring that pregnant women receive complete information about the nature of the life within them, including being required to view sonograms before electing abortion. This would follow truth-in-labeling and truth-in-lending laws by fully informing and empowering women. Such an approach would satisfy the liberal demand to keep abortion ‘safe and legal’ and the pro-life desire to make them rare. After 35 years of slaughtering our young, isn’t it time to stop? That child born in 1973 could be a parent now. There are children who could have been born today. Thirty-five years of killing has diminished and corrupted us all. Let’s summon the moral courage to stop it for our sake and for theirs.”
Re: A travesty of justice is about to be corrected
A 15-year old boy.
That’s all Tim Masters was when he was first accused of murdering someone he never even knew. At that young age, his life was taken from him. Dave reported earlier that justice has finally emerged, and Masters will be freed from prison, where he was serving a life sentence for the crime that everyone now acknowledges he had nothing to do with.
Here’s Masters today:
It should be noted that Masters was convicted in large part because Detective Jim Broderick of the Ft. Collins police department forced the investigation in that direction because he alone was convinced he had his man. He came to this conclusion after browbeating, screaming at, and lying to a teenage boy in an interrogation room for four hours straight.
DET. JIM BRODERICK
But he was also convicted because prosecutors Terry Gilmore and Jolene Blair violated the rules of ethics to gin up a conviction on an innocent boy. Where are Gilmore and Blair today? They are both judges in Ft. Collins.
Gillmore Blair
Now, Gilmore is being investigated for misconduct in the case, and Broderick for perjury.
And Timothy Masters will be left to try to put back together the pieces of his life.
A travesty of justice is about to be corrected
It would appear that our own Scribe was absolutely correct in his conclusions in regards to this case. I have been following this more or less intently since DFV brought it to our attention some time ago. It has been on the front pages of the local papers for the last few months. It does truly seem to have been a gross injustice perpetrated by a narrowly focused police force and prosecutor that pretty much set up a fifteen year old boy to take the fall for this crime. It took them many years to finally bring him to trial and his conviction was attained with no evidence whatsoever linking him to the crime. His conviction was almost entirely based on a psychiatrists interpretation of some violent drawings he had made and the fact that he lived across a large field from where the crime took place. No physical evidence tying him to the crime was found on the victim, at the scene itself, or in his home.
The local news just reported this evening that he should be free by Tuesday. An amazing turnabout. The victim’s brother is a customer of mine, so I truly feel for her family and feel very badly that an apparently innocent man has been punished for this crime while the true perpetrator has been living free for all these years.
What a tragedy and travesty on so many levels.
Freedom looms for Masters in light of new DNA evidence
“It’s important that the justice system works,” he said. “Obviously, the justice system didn’t work in this case, but at least that wrong will be rectified.”
Although prosecutors have agreed to give Masters a new trial, Fischer, who worked as a prosecutor for several years before coming to Fort Collins, said there’s “zero chance” of that happening.
“There is no way they can proceed to trial with the overwhelming amount of evidence that’s been turned over in the last three months,” he said….…It needs to be investigated why, after only seven months, Adams County prosecutors were able to reach this conclusion when Fort Collins police and Larimer County prosecutors had the case for 12 years, he said. By the time this case went to trial, the technology to test DNA was available but the samples from Hettrick’s clothing were not tested, Fischer said…“This is a sad day for Fort Collins but a great day for Timothy Masters,” Fischer said.
Mr. Govt. bureaucrat, I’m cold, can you turn up the heat?
Big Brother steps back from the thermostat
Joseph Somsel first revealed here that California was considering requiring the installation of remotely controllable thermostats in all new construction and remodeling, so that authorities could lower or increase temperatures when energy supply considerations made this desirable in in the eyes of the all-knowing state.A small scale national firestorm began, and even the New York Times credited American Thinker with putting the story on the national agenda.The California Energy Commission has now backed down and removed programmable communicating thermostats (PCT) from the 2008 Building Standards.
The days of the all powerful government bureaucrat, the green police and the carbon cop are nearly here. We’ve seen the increased proposals to tax you for having to many children, to issue carbon cards to ensure your carbon neutrality and the concept of consumption taxes. Some mock the idea that such incredible intrusions into your personal life could ever happen in the good ‘ol US of A, and yet it nearly did in California. The age of the nanny state is upon us and it continues to flex its muscles. How long before we are truly not free, but merely subserviant serfs to the almighty modern feudal state?
And don’t miss The Bureaucrat in Your Shower.
You might have some vague memory from childhood, and perhaps it returns when visiting someone who lives in an old home. You turn on the shower and the water washes over your whole self as if you are standing under a warm-spring waterfall. It is generous and therapeutic. The spray is heavy and hard, enough even to work muscle cramps out of your back, enough to wash the conditioner out of your hair, enough to leave you feeling wholly renewed — enough to get you completely clean.
Somehow, these days, it seems nearly impossible to recreate this in your new home. You go to the hardware store to find dozens and dozens of choices of shower heads. They have 3, 5, 7, even 9 settings from spray to massage to rainfall. Some have long necks. Some you can hold in your hand. Some are huge like the lid to a pot and promise buckets of rainfall. The options seem endless.
But you buy and buy, and in the end, they disappoint. It’s just water, and it never seems like enough.
The link also contains one of those great “Warning: The following section is for information purposes only” that tells you how to dramatically increase the water flow from your showerhead and skirt the restrictions of the ‘water nazis’. Alter your shower at your own peril, but with my blessing.
From The Shower Episode of Seinfeld:
Kramer, Newman and a ‘salesman’ are at the back of a van in an alley.
Salesman: All right, I got everything here. I got the Cyclone F series, Hydra
Jet Flow, Stockholm Superstream, you name it.
Newman: What do you recommend?
Salesman: What are you looking for?
Kramer: Power, man. Power.
Newman: Like Silkwood.
Kramer: That’s for radiation.
Newman: That’s right.
Kramer (pointing to the largest one): Now, what is this?
Salesman: That’s the Commando 450, I don’t sell that one. What about thi-
Kramer: Well that’s what we want, the Commando 450.
Salesman: Nah, believe me. It’s only used in the circus. For elephants.
Newman: We’ll pay anything. We’ve got the (hands a wad of money to Kramer)
What about Jerry?
Kramer: He couldn’t handle that, he’s delicate.
When it’s a crime to blog in the West
The power of Political Correctness and the authoritarian heavy handedness that comes with it are very evident in this story. The US is moving rapidly in that direction with “free speech” now amended with speech codes, sensitivity training, the dreaded accusation of “hate speech” and a snarling social stigma for daring to say that homosexuality is wrong, Islam is not a peaceful religion, abortion is merely infanticide in the womb etc. etc.
A Profile of Courage: An Interview with “Lionheart” the British Blogger in Hiding
Islamist rule over the UK may, alarmingly, be on its way. Today, the British police want to question and/or arrest the British blogger known as Lionheart. His crime? Turning his life around as a young school dropout and petty drug dealer and emerging as a believing Christian who opposes the drug plague in his hometown of Luton and who views the Pakistani Islamist and al-Qaeda control of the drug trade in Luton as both criminally and politically dangerous. For this, Lionheart has been charged with “stirring up racial hatred”—which is a crime in the UK.
The Canadian Speech Gestapo
UPDATE: Ottawa’s David Warren is on the case. “Then They Came for Mark Steyn…”
One of Western Civilization’s greatest writers, Mark Steyn, now finds himself on trial before two Canandian courts who are asserting their legal authority to limit and punish speech which offends the sensibilites of the State. The fact that Canada’s teeming mass of leftists has enacted laws that are in fact at war with all of our Western liberal traditions, should dissapoint us, but not surprise us. After all, Canadian politics and higher ed are roughly equivalent to their American counterparts, in that they are defiantly anti-intellectual to the point of backwardness.
The difference is that in American media and acadamia, there are at least a few isolated outposts of conservatism. It is telling that leftists in America are trying to shut down and silence such voices of dissent. But it is also telling that all of the fanatical, whackjob, lefty websites in America (or, as Andre calls them, his entire source of information in the world today) are silent on the brown-shirted fascist movement just north of us. Indeed, those of us who have read their bilge know that Kos, My DD, ThinkProgress, FireDogLake, and countless others would in fact vigorously support the shackling of Mark Steyn. Nothing could make clearer the lunancy of today’s left-wing or the complete abscence of credibility of these clowns when they whine and shriek about the coming fascism of the Bush brigade.
If Andre has even a shred of integrity, or intellect, or committment to liberalism, or dignity as a person, he will assail both Canada’s Gestapo for the latest march in their Gleichschaltung, and the American left-wing blogosphere for their fellow-travelling.
Nevada lawyer Todd Phillips proves he’s every bit the moron Steve Horner is
It all occurred to Todd Phillips when his wife was offered a cheaper rate to join an athletic club than he was. Being the cad that he is, Philips, an attorney (obviously), demanded that his wife be bilked out of every cent they could get from her. In this manner, the simple-minded litigator seeks to strike a blow for freedom.
ConClub has in the past dealt with similarly deluded arguments from Steve Horner, the other lawyer with far too much time on his hands. To get a feel for just how ignorant Todd Phillips is, read the afrticle. There you will find that a quote from someone named Prof. John F. Banzhaf III, who is a professor of public interest law at George Washington University Law School in Washington. Prof Banzhaf foolishly thinks that cheaper rates for women are motivated by a desire to give the weaker sex a chivilrous boost, or that it is a sinister plot to get them all drunk.
How can you become a major Nevada attorney or a prominent East coast professor, and not know the slightest thing about basic economics or simple human behavior? And how can our society buckle to the dimmest bulbs among us?
Welcome to the age of repression…
Literary Dictionary
Home > Library > Arts > Literary Dictionary
hyperbole
hyperbole [hy‐per‐bŏli], exaggeration for the sake of emphasis in a figure of speech not meant literally. An everyday example is the complaint ‘I’ve been waiting here for ages.’ Hyperbolic expressions are common in the inflated style of dramatic speech known as bombast, as in Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra when Cleopatra praises the dead Antony:
His legs bestrid the ocean: his reared arm
Crested the world.
its use is illegal in Wisconsin.
But, But, We’re Your Allies!
It’s a brave new world… (via Digby)
AMERICA has told Britain that it can “kidnap” British citizens if they are wanted for crimes in the United States.
A senior lawyer for the American government has told the Court of Appeal in London that kidnapping foreign citizens is permissible under American law because the US Supreme Court has sanctioned it.
The admission will alarm the British business community after the case of the so-called NatWest Three, bankers who were extradited to America on fraud charges. More than a dozen other British executives, including senior managers at British Airways and BAE Systems, are under investigation by the US authorities and could face criminal charges in America.
Until now it was commonly assumed that US law permitted kidnapping only in the “extraordinary rendition” of terrorist suspects.
“Gestapo in action” or Stupid drug user? The sad saga of James Cheeseman
Art Downs over at Common Sense tells of a current event in Delaware that involved James Cheeseman, arrested for possessing 10.5 grams of cocaine. To paraphrase Art, the Cheeseman 1) had 10.5 grams of powdered cocaine, 2) was charged with intent to distribute, 3) also owns a gun shop, and 4) had his entire store “jackbooted” by the Feds.
Because I found the topic interesting (and because Art didn’t give the link, an offense of which Dana has admonished us before), I went to find the story from google news. Here is what I found:
The story of X-Ring’s (Cheeseman’s gun store) crisis and uncertain situation — a topic that’s still freshly painful for the folks involved — began Aug. 5, when police say Cheeseman was caught with 10.5 grams of crack cocaine and charged with possession with intent to distribute.
Soon, agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were in Cheeseman’s store, removing his stock of 700 guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition.
A weapons seizure is fairly routine in cases involving suspected drug felons, but in this instance it raised some questions of fairness and property rights, especially when it was reported that ATF agents used a front-end loader to haul out some of the firearms. “I know the long guns were damaged,” said Bob Henry Jr., X-Ring’s manager. “They kind of just chucked them in one giant box.”
Art seemed to have some sympathy for Cheeseman as evidenced by his post title (Gestapo in action). He concluded by asking “Was this merely an act of sadism on the part of the goon squad? Do they regret not getting in on the cookout at Waco?”
And on this I wholeheartedly agree with Art. The trumped up drug charges and then the confiscation of the mans property is an absolute joke. As Art said, “perhaps it is seen as good PR and divert attention from the failure to do a better job of shutting down potentially deadly crystal meth labs.”
But poor James gets no symphathy from either Dana or a guy named Bitter Scribe (no relation to our Scribe although he too is bitter). Dana apparently believes that material not related to the actual crime is fair game for the government to loot. He states, “If the man was a registered firearms dealer, he had to know what getting caught with a little cocaine would do: he’s lost his inventory, he’ll lose his legal right to possess firearms, and that means he’ll lose his business. Of course this is pure crap and the fact that the Feds make up reasons to take your stuff doesn’t make it right. Bitter Scribe concurs by saying, “if only because someone dumb enough to carry several grams of cocaine on his person probably shouldn’t be allowed to possess firearms.”
Lots of people do dumb things but it shouldn’t mean they lose their property rights in the process. Especially before they have been convicted of the crime.
Still more on Steve ‘I’ll sue you’ Horner
A few weeks ago I posted about “that guy” who is so damaged by ladies nights that he feels compelled to waste the time and resources of society to enrich himself. It isn’t that I just find him a dispicable idiot as my last post was aptly titled. There is just something very wrong with a person that makes of mockery of the system and then doesn’t even have the decency to put forth a compelling argument for why he is such a horses ass. Earlier today, Steve responded to that last post with this comment:
Ha-Ha-Ha-Ha. I am so overwhelmed with joy and satisfaction after reading the above comments. Anytime I’m able to shove the burr of patriotism under the saddles of the idiots,cowards,and bastards it just absolutely makes my day. Thank you idiots,cowards,and bastards.And, for an important update,last week I finally won two back to back ladies’night settlements in Denver county court.Next stop: District Court where the big bucks are paid out for civil rights violations.I’ll be laughing all the way to the bank after I find myself discriminated by some national chain…I’m on the lookout for that ripe and juicy (emphasis mine) sexist and self-serving bar and/or nightclub.Steve Horner from stevehornerbooks.com.
Just to check the veracity of his claim, I went to Westword and found this from last Thursday:
We certainly did not agree with his position,” (Rockies spokesman Jay) Alves says. That’s because the Rockies will extend the ladies’ night deal of a voucher to a free game to anyone who asks for it — and when Horner initially complained to the team’s management this summer, he was not only sent two vouchers, but also a baseball signed by Matt Holliday. . . Horner did not appreciate the gesture, instead equating it with a “certain degree of payola.” And at one point, he left this message for Rockies general counsel Hal Roth: “Well, anyhow, I think I would be a phony if I didn’t file some kind of charge against you folks, and I think I’ll just go through the, you know, I’ll go through the tax-paid trail of filing with the Commissioner of Civil Rights here in Colorado and, um, you know, they are a bunch of phonies, too…unless, of course, the person happens to be black, crippled, Jew, in a wheelchair or gay and lesbian. But I don’t fit any of those.”
In Steve Horner-land, everyone is an idiot, or a coward, or a phonie. . . except for Steve. And what better way to judge the monikers of this upstanding citizen except by his own actions.
He recently tried to enroll at the University of Denver Women’s College, was denied because classes there are “just for women,” he was told, and filed a complaint with the feds. Although that complaint was dismissed, Horner plans to file another one at the state level. And in the meantime, he’s looking for a target that’s “ripe and juicy,” (sound familiar?)he says. “Probably a national player with deep pockets that, with these Denver County wins, I can take to Denver District Court. People can say I’m going for the money or going for the throat, but I’m just going for what’s right,” he concludes.
Since Steve is reading this site, I invite him to come on here and make a legitimate argument as to why he thinks he has been wronged by ladies night promotions. I would also encourage him to press his claim that he is actually working on behalf of societal interests by his actions and not using these promotions as a leach uses its host.
Orwell Speaks
At Vail Christian High School, in Colorado, a teacher has been arrested for “sexual assault on a child.” The alleged perp is a 27-year old guy; the supposed victim, a 17-year old young woman. We used to call a consensual relationship between a 27-year old and a 17-year old “marriage” or “normal.” I guess I’m okay if we now want to start calling it “off-limits.”
But to call it “sexual assault on a child” is to pervert both the language and the law, to say nothing of the attack the label poses on the not abnormal exposition of biological realities.
This is how much the President values homeland security:
This morning, CNN’s Suzanne Malveaux reported that “very senior level sources” inside the administration are telling her that Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff will replace Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
Additionally, these sources say Chertoff will be replaced at Homeland Security by Clay Johnson III, the Deputy Director for Management at the Office of Management and Budget.
Well, I guess I was wrong. It might be the perfect time for Alberto to resign, because Bush could make appointments now if he decided he didn’t want to bother with those pesky checks and balances. Good thing, too, because…
Clay Johnson is the Deputy Director for Management at the Office of Management and Budget. The Deputy Director for Management provides government-wide leadership to Executive Branch agencies to improve agency and program performance. Prior to this he was the Assistant to the President for Presidential Personnel, responsible for the organization that identifies and recruits approximately 4000 senior officials, middle management personnel and part-time board and commission members.
From 1995 to 2000, Mr. Johnson worked with Governor George W. Bush in Austin, first as his Appointments Director, then as his Chief of Staff, and then as the Executive Director of the Bush-Cheney Transition.
Mr. Johnson has been the Chief Operating Officer for the Dallas Museum of Art and the President of the Horchow and Neiman Marcus Mail Order companies. He also has worked for Citicorp, Wilson Sporting Goods and Frito Lay.
He received his undergraduate degree from Yale University and a Masters degree from MIT’s Sloan School of Management. In Austin, he helped create the Texas State History Museum, and was also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Texas Graduate School of Business. In Dallas, he served as President of the Board of Trustees for St. Marks School of Texas, and as a Board Member of Equitable Bankshares, Goodwill Industries of Dallas, and the Dallas Chapter of the Young Presidents Organization.
If that CNN report is true, I can only guess this is merely a dirty political tactic. Appointing someone wildly unqualified in one position in the hopes of getting Michael Chertoff through unnoticed. Otherwise, Bush might have just handed the Democrats the entire next election cycle.
On a completely unrelated note, is it sad that I just now realized the bizarreness of pesky being the adjective form of pest instead of pesty?
Goodbye Gonzalez
Don’t let the gavel hit you on the way out. Though I respect you for resigning to prevent us the long, drawn out process to find the piece of documentation that would prove how you perjured himself.
He really should have resigned earlier in the year, at least politically. How hard is it going to be for Bush to get a replacement sworn in after Congress knows that he’s looking for an AG to essentially micromanage the entire country’s judicial system and prevent Congress from overseeing the President’s actions?
Michael Vick says “I am guilty”…takes deal…career over?
In the world of investing, one statement is generally true, You Can’t Fight the Fed. In Michael Vick’s world a similar statement is true, You Can’t Fight Your Friends (or members of your posse that snitch). Terms of the deal have not been officially announced, but it will definitely involve jail time. Read more here. Can anyone ever remember a crash and burn sports story of this magnitude?
But at least one writer has heard from an anonymous NFL GM that Vick will be back.
“If he goes to prison, time will pass,” said the general manager, who spoke before news of a potential Vick plea agreement and asked not to be identified, claiming the NFL has asked current team officials not to publicly comment on the Vick case. “Months or years will pass, if he does go to jail. If he went to jail, and then left prison down the road, he’d still be relatively young, and there’d be a line of 15 to 20 teams waiting to sign him. Trust me on that. Teams are going to say, ‘F— PETA. F— the bad pub. This guy is one of the most talented players of the last 10 years. I’ll take my chances.’
“Teams may say one thing publicly. But if he gets out of jail, we’ll all be looking at Vick hard. We’re all whores in football. You know the saying. We’d sign an ax murderer if he has ability. He’ll be back. He won’t be back in Atlanta probably but he’ll be back in professional football. You can count on it.”
The general manager also stated he believes that Vick will return as a running back.
Battling against raps ‘Stop Snitchin’ message
Buried in this mornings Denver Post I found this article about Denver activist Alvertis Simmons. Simmons is the head of the Million Man March chapter in Denver and has traditionally been on the front lines of any and all racial issues over the past decade. Generally, he comes off as a shake-down artist in the media but I’ll give credit where it’s due:
Community activist Alvertis Simmons launched a campaign Saturday to combat the “stop snitching” message he says is prevalent in rap music – he calls it “Start Talking.”
“It’s OK to tell,” he told about 25 community members attending a rally at Aurora’s Del Mar Park.
Youth are often reluctant to come forward when they witness a crime, and a lot of it has to do with rappers ostracizing those who go to authorities, he added.
Simmons hopes to roll out T-shirts and buttons, and eventually spread his message to Denver and Aurora grade-school students.
Considering the fact that Denver was recently innundated with news of the high profile killing of Denver Bronco cornerback Darrent Williams, I believe the message is worthy and needs to be spread. Yet the case remains unsolved precisely because every available eye-witness refuses to talk to police.
And to what can we attribute such absurd thinking? In part, we can thank the campaign called Stop Snitchin’ with its imbecilic message encouraging young people not talk to investigators and police. From the Wiki entry on Stop Snitchin’:
The Stop Snitching campaign was originated by a man named Shaheed from New York who created the stop snitching t-shirts and sold them on 125th street in Harlem. Years later it gained national attention in late 2004 in Baltimore, Maryland, where a DVD released by Rodney Thomas’ Skinny Suge Records, titled “Stop Snitching!” began to circulate. Thomas is currently in jail for assault. In some footage, a number of men claiming to be drug dealers address the camera, and threaten violence against anyone who reports what they know about their crimes to the authorities. This threat is especially directed towards those who inform on others to get a lighter sentence for their own crimes. Notably, NBA star Carmelo Anthony, a former Baltimore resident and now a part of the Denver Nuggets basketball team, appeared in the video.
Because of this type of thinking, violent criminals walk free. Mothers and fathers realize no justice in the murders of their children. And black culture in America is eroded and laid to waste so drug dealers and street gangs don’t have to face the system they callously disregard. Kudos to Alvertis Simmons and other black leaders that will confront this issue head on.
Update: I think it is also noteworthy that Michael Vick is about to cop a plea because his friends are going to testify against him. It is good to see the system work itself out the way it is supposed to. Vicks friends Purnell Peace and Quanis Phillips seem to understand that “snitchin” is the way to severely reduce your sentence. And why wouldn’t they? When the story first broke, Vick himself was in the media saying that he had no idea what his friends were doing in his Virginia home. I guess it’s okay for Vick to sell out his friends in order to maintain his own image.
How Hard Was That?
Let me just clear up a few things that the loyal Bushies claim that pisses off those of us in the new fifth column (and I think I can speak for Wes, Phleb, and maybe even Blu on this):
1) We don’t root for the insurgents. Simply pointing out how INCREDIBLY wrong you guys were from the start, including the resulting carnage day after day after day, doesn’t mean we support our nation’s enemies. Believe it or not, we love our country as much as you, and really hope we win this war.
2) We don’t think listening in on terrorist messages is a bad thing. In fact, we wholly support it. We just want warrants when American citizens are involved. The founding fathers were so daft as to enshrine some nonsense about protections against unreasonable searches and seizures in our Constitution, and we think we should follow that.
3) We are NOT fans of Jose Padilla, but we opposed the idea of locking up an American citizen for three plus years in solitary confinement, denying him legal representation, applying “enhanced interrogation techniques”, and pretty much ass-raping the Constitution in his case, simply because the president declared him an “enemy combatant“.
He went to trial. He was found guilty by a jury of his peers. And now he goes to jail…. Good riddance.
Is that so hard to understand?
You’re Kidding, Right?
At this point almost all of us have come to the realization (righties and lefties alike) that Alberto Gonzales is either the most inept or the most dishonest AG in the history of the office.
And now, under a little known provision of “The Patriot Act Part 2: The Revenge”, it turns out that he can help “Fast-Track” death penalty cases. Even those brought under state law.
The Justice Department is putting the final touches on regulations that could give Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales important new sway over death penalty cases in California and other states, including the power to shorten the time that death row inmates have to appeal convictions to federal courts.
The rules implement a little-noticed provision in last year’s reauthorization of the Patriot Act that gives the attorney general the power to decide whether individual states are providing adequate counsel for defendants in death penalty cases. The authority has been held by federal judges.
Under the rules now being prepared, if a state requested it and Gonzales agreed, prosecutors could use “fast track” procedures that could shave years off the time that a death row inmate has to appeal to the federal courts after conviction in a state court.
Does anybody but me have a problem with Mr. “I Can’t Recall” being allowed to decide who gets a more speedy route to the death chamber?
FISA and Civil Liberties
The debate about the Bush administration’s surveillance, and the Democrats’ response to it, is weighed down by a lack of understanding of the actual nature of the debate. For Republicans, the more intelligence collected, the better — though as January 20, 2009 draws nearer, reservations emerge. For Democrats, any power afforded the Bush “regime” is power misplaced.The law as it existed a week ago held that if a foreign terrorist communicated with another foreign terrorist in a communication that was routed through the US, the call was off-limits without a warrant. The Democrats, in passing the latest bill, rectified this. I believe they did the right thing, Andre and Wes dissent.
The characterization of the powers that have been legalized is riddled with errors. Wes worries that the problem is that he doesn’t trust that Bush will “respect the privacy of his political enemies.”
Likewise, Russ Feingold (D., WI) argues that the new law “provides no protection for Americans who may be calling or e-mailing friends, family or business partners overseas and who have done absolutely nothing wrong.”
In fact, the bill requires that the Attorney General agree to the specifics of the searches, that a FISA judge approves the search at least retroactively, and that the Congress reauthorizes the search mechanism after six months.
Now, I understand why many Democrats are wary of the AG oversight. Bobby Kennedy, Janet Reno, and, yes, Alberto Gonzales are examples of AG’s whose independence seems nonexistent. But just as having bad Presidents doesn’t justify removing executive Read the rest of this entry
Can We Blame Andre When The Next Attack Comes?
First, let’s be clear about what Andre and the Kos fanatics are arguing. They demand that the intelligence community be required to first get a court order before intercepting foreign intelligence produced by foreign nationals on foreign soil. This has never been required in American history, nor by any nation in world history. In defense of this outrageous, dispicable, and dangerous position, they declare that to support the alternative is to support tyranny. And they wonder why we openly question their sanity.
Second, the radicals can bitch all they want, but I stated before the Dems even took power, and again in April, that this is what would happen. Kos may want to hamstring our intelligence gathering, but Pat Leahy really doesn’t. Andre may want to respond to the current threat by creating the most cumbersome and backwards intelligence-gathering structure in the history of the free world, but Harry Reid apparently does not.
And third, here’s the rub: When Muslim terrorists embedded within Britain tried to board planes headed to America with the intent to blow them up in the air, Keith Olbermann, Andrew Sullivan, Buzzflash, and our own Andre the Defiant openly discussed whether the arrests — of these presumably innocent, or even framed men — was a set-up. Why? Because the day before, Ned Lamont had beaten Joe Lieberman in a primary! And they wonder why we openly question their sanity.
Then, when Muslim terrorists embedded within Britain tried to conduct a large conspiracy to murder masses of British civilians, Olbermann and our own Andre the Defiant laughed at not only these “alleged” terrorists, but at all of us for even bothering with them.
“Oooooh, I’m scared,” taunted Andre.
Now, these same chaps want to put handcuffs on law enforcement [remember their lie that they favored robust law enforcement?] the likes of which has never been done, and they are furious, livid, apoplectic, that those who are responsible for the safety of Americans are against this. And they wonder why we openly question their sanity.
I’m reminded of 1993, when a group of strange Muslim radicals tried to topple the Twin Towers with a car bomb.
“Ha!” we said, “topple the Towers?! Boy are those Arab Muslims stupid!” And when one of the wanted fugitives turned up at the car rental joint afterward to collect his deposit, only to be arrested instead, we laughed all the more.
It turns out that they were doing what al Qaeda and other Muslim terrorist groups have always done. They were trying something that hadn’t been done before. When it failed, they learned from the mistakes, took notes, made adjustments. They decided on a different tactic to take down the Twin Towers and seven years later, on September 11, 2001, they tried once more.
None of were laughing after that.
But for now, Andre and his guys are yukking it up about foreign threats. “Ooooh, I’m scared.” The only thing that they are genuinely concerned about is the Bushitler Nazis and their Democratic collaborators in Congress who actually want the NSC and the CIA to be able to effectively listen to our enemies, who all accounts say are plotting as vigorously as ever.
So – since it would be unseemly to bring it up after the attack, I thought I’d ask the question now: Since Andre and Kos and Olbermann and all of the other radical, fanatical, fringe leftists have sought to consistently diminish the threats, attack those who protect us against the threats, guffaw at those who warn us of the threats, snicker at those who are plotting, developing, and adjusting the threats, vigorously trying to completely destroy the ability of law enforcement to investigate the threats, and slandering all those who take seriously the threat, can’t we — shouldn’t we — mustn’t we — blame Andre the Defiant and his small but sickening brigade of fat and happy complacent knaves when the al Qaeda gang actually gets it right again and successfully murders a large mass of Americans?
Michael Vick Indicted in Dogfighting Case
He faces possible prison time and in Roger Goodell’s NFL, a lengthy suspension.
Prosecutors have detailed gruesome actions that allegedly took place.
Each fight, according to court records, would “last to the end” — the point at which one dog surrendered or died. For defeated dogs, though, surviving the fight could lead to an even worse fate.
“At the end of the fight,” court documents say, “the losing dog was sometimes put to death by drowning, strangulation, hanging, gun shot, electrocution or some other method.”
When a Bad Newz Kennels dog was wounded in a losing fight, Michael Vick was consulted before the animal was doused with water and electrocuted.
Genarlow Wilson
[UPDATE from DFV: Andre was out of town when we first raised this issue. Click here for the beginning of the debate.]
Do you want to see a miscarriage of justice? Here it is:
A judge in Georgia has voided the ten year mandatory sentence of Genarlow Wilson, a high school student who received consensual oral sex from a fifteen year old girl.
Ironically, if the two had intercourse, it would have been a misdemeanor, punishable by not more than a year in prison. After Wilson’s conviction, there was outrage over his sentence, and the legislature changed the statute so that oral sex is a misdemeanor too. But the statute did not affect Wilson, because the change did not apply retroactively. Even though no other teen could ever receive Wilson’s sentence because the law changed, Wilson ‘s punishment could not be changed. The courts said that the only remedy for Wilson was through the legislature, but the legislature refused to act. The new bill drafted to help Wilson was stalled.
…
Wilson was ordered released. He was re-sentenced to 12 months in prison, a total victory for Wilson, who has served nearly double that already. Furthermore, he does not have to register as a sex offender when he gets out. But the prison doors have not sprung open for Wilson. The attorney general has filed an appeal, seeking a higher court’s ruling as to whether the court has the power to commute Wilson’s sentence to a sentence that did not statutorily exist at the time of his conviction.
I’m sorry, but a ten year sentence for a fracking blow job? I’d be in jail for a millennium. Beside that, he was a varsity football player with a 3.2 GPA. What on earth compelled the AG to appeal the decision?
Dave?
Update: The Georgia AG website is here. Please feel free to tell him what you think of his dumbfuck decision.
A Gripping Mystery, and an Outrageous Miscarriage of Justice
You’re going to want to read this.
When I was an undergrad at Colorado State in Ft. Collins, the county was prosecuting a man for a previously unsolved murder, 20 years prior. I thought there wasn’t much evidence against him, and I thought he got a raw deal at trial, where he was convicted and sentenced to life.
But only now do I realize that he is completely innocent, and the victim of an injustice at the least, and probably an outright coverup. Right now, Dana Pico is somewhere saying, “Here goes that idiot DFV again,” but when he reads this, I think he’ll agree with its conclusions.
After having read this myself, I emailed defense attorney Maria Liu and offered any help I could provide, though I’m not sure there’s a great demand for lawyers-slash-middle school English teachers who are due back at work in three weeks.
In one of the finest versions of investigative reporting I’ve seen in years, and told in a compelling, page-turning way that rivals the best True-Crime books on the shelf, here is the Denver Post’s Miles Moffeit on the case of The People of the State of Colorado vs. Timothy L. Masters.
Republicans Screw Up Again On Federal Crimes
UPDATE: I misread the case as being a federal one instead of a Georgia state case, as readers have pointed out. Thus my anger at the Federal Sentencing Guidelines and Republicans in Congress who defend them is irrelevant, and that’s an argument for another day. This appears to be one of the rare cases where a state law and sentence is more draconian than a federal law.
It doesn’t seem to matter to certain conservatives how many examples of outrageous federal zealotry are offered, these guys simply won’t allow themselves to consider anything other than the boilerplate, right-wing line thy’ve been fed.
Petterico, among many others, is excepted, because some conservatives still look askance at federal marshals wielding guns, lubricated by ignorant populist pap, and egged on by every dime-store, wanna-be conservative cowboy in the district, charging in to apprehend and incarcerate every varmint they can muster.
But our old friend Dana pulls the “father card.”
Maybe every prosecutor to whom you spoke [opposes the sentence], but does every parent of a teenager?
I’ll restrain myself till after the rest of the quote.
There’s a lot more to this case: Mr Wilson and his compatriots also screwed a 17 or 18 year old girl, who was above the age of consent, but was so falling down drunk as to be half unconscious; she was not in any condition to give anything remotely like a reasonable consent. This isn’t a case of two teenagers who got caught while they were out on a date.
I have absolutely no problem with Mr Wilson serving his ten years.
Number 1, I have said before and will repeat again: IF YOUR PRECIOUS TEENAGER IS SCREWING OR SUCKING OFF OTHER GUYS, THEN SHE IS TO BLAME, AND YOU ARE TO BLAME, BUT HOW IN THE HELL IS THE STATE SUPPOSED TO COME IN AND “RESCUE” YOUR DAUGHTER, CONSIDERING SHE IS UNABLE TO MAKE EVEN THE MOST BASIC LIFE CHOICES, SUCH AS WHO’S DICK TO PUT IN HER MOUTH?
None of the conservatives who blather approvingly about such laws would ever announce proudly that those laws were being applied to their daughter’s “assailant,” because not a one of them raises their daughters to be mere puppets of whatever would-be puppet master who comes along, nor were any of them deer-in-the-headlights when they were that age.
Dana’a extraneous data has nothing to do with the case at hand, except to convince him that these cats are bad news, which is precisely the stuff juries and judges are NOT to consider. As for this case — a 15 year old girl gave a blow job to a 17 year old boy, and he got 10 years in federal prison — the outrage cries out.
Because if the hideous rapist (all 17 years of him) were to tire of the 15 year old tail he had caught, and if he were to instead shift his focus to older women, the results could be spectacular.
For if Raping Raymond cut off relations with No-Freewill Nancy, — who had given him blowjobs in the alley every Thursday — only to replace Nancy’s affection with a smoking-hot, blonde, 28-year-old hottie who worked at the school, then all of a sudden Raping Raymond would become Rape-Victim Raymond, a blubbering, blathering, witness about the dangers of hot chicks who give horny teenage boys what they want.
Indeed, it is legally possible for confused Raymond to simultaneously be a rape victim and a rapist, all while simply sleeping with young hot chicks who want to fuck him.
Memo to Dana: This isn’t an institution to be defended, it’s a cancer to be excised.
It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Nixon
Ms. Taylor expects to receive a letter from [White House Counsel Fred] Fielding on behalf of the President directing her not to comply with the Senate’s subpoena. These contrary directions undoubtedly create a monumental clash between the executive and legislative branches of government. This clash may ultimately be resolved by the judicial branch.…
[Taylor] is unquestionably loyal to and committed to the President and his agenda. …
Absent the direction from the White House, Ms. Taylor would testify without hesitation before the Senate Judiciary Committee. She has participated in no wrongdoing. She will assert no personal privileges.
[Taylor] faces two untenable choices. She can follow the President’s direction and face the possibility of a contempt sanction by the Senate, with enforcement through the criminal courts, an action that regardless of the outcome, will follow her for life. Or, she can attempt to work out an accommodation with the Senate, which will put her at odds with the President, a person whom she admires and for whom she has worked tirelessly for years.
Bush to America: I’m Not Done Rigging The System for My Cronies
Unsatisfied with merely tipping the scales of justice to serve his agenda, now Bush suggests that he may simply throw the scales out altogether.
He’s already established a new Bush-administration law that says “No Republican may serve jail time.” But now he is contemplating a complete ban on all Republican convictions.
Furthermore, it is disgraceful that those who demanded that Bill Clinton be impeached and removed from office for lying in a federal investigation, now believe that Scooter Libby is a victim…. because he lied in a federal investigation. Just come clean guys: Just say, look, I don’t care about the integrity of the system, and I certainly don’t care about honor in my politcal leaders. I want my guys to win, and the other guys to lose, and I’m more than willing to openly support lying and cheating if it will help pull that off.
There are people at the Wall Street Journal, National Review, and Constitution Club who should frankly be ashamed of themselves today.
Unless we start electing men with more character, a constitutional crisis could emerge
Dave and Eric are pleased that Libby is safely home tonight; Andre is outraged. Dave and E are probably still furious about Bill Clinton’s nefarious pardon spree; Andre is soberly opposed to it. But they curiously seem not to get the seriousness of this.
Each of the last three Presidents has pardoned close associates whose criminal convictions were the result of that person’s faithful service to the pardoning President himself.
What if the next President has a group of roving criminals who traverse the political landscape committing various crimes on the President’s behalf, knowing full well that they will be pardoned at the end of their cherished leader’s term?
Or what if Richard Nixon had, after breakfast on August 9, 1974, casually issued a pardon for Chuch Colson, H.R Halderman, John Dean, and G. Gordon Liddy, before resigning the office and boarding the helicopter?
Should such a scenario occur in the future, some folks at Conclub might like it, but it will precipitate a constitutional convention to strip the President of his clemency power altogether.
Presidential clemency is an awesome power and it can only be used with the utmost integrity. Isn’t it time we found someone up to that standard for our highest office?
Re: Bush Commutation; “I get by with a little help. . .”
That DFV believes it is reprehensible to excuse your friends from bad situations is one thing. That he then equates this with bad character is inexcusable.
The Scribe seems to be in a state of disbelief that Bush would alter his stance on commutations to give Libby a ‘get out of jail free’ card. He even goes so far as to quote Bush from his own book. But the Scribe conveniently neglects his own stance which I made quite obvious in my last post. I’ll sum it up for you. The Scribe thinks that:
- the prosection was political
- the defendant was overcharged
- prosecution misled the jury
- the sentence was outrageous
Now two weeks later DFV makes the case that Libby ”committed the crime in defense of Bush.” What an outrageously deceitful statement! To change your own opinion a mere two weeks later in order to make a nefarious point about why people shouldn’t stand up for their friends is one thing. But to change your opinion while simultaneously railing against Bush for changing his opinion is simply malevolent.
I won’t even comment on utter vacuousness of a post that continues to insist that the Bush White House is the only institution in the entire fucking history of the world where friends were hired, looked out for, and promoted. Shocker!
Bush Commutation Reveals That He’s a Man of Weak Character
Having a powerful job at the center of White House activity — $150,000
Perjuring yourself to a federal grand jury — 30 months in prison
But being friends with the Decider himself — absolutely priceless
It is quite easy to make the case that when it comes to the rights of criminal defendants, George W. Bush has been one of the least sensitive political leaders of modern times. As governor of Texas, he infamously mocked the pleas for clemency from Karla Faye Tucker, who was later executed. As President, he has commuted just a smattering of sentences, almost always from some trivial crime committed decades ago. And of course his Justice Department continues to argue for stiffer penalties for federal criminals and opposes any revision in the draconian Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
But now, in the face of all of his beliefs and all of his history, he tosses a get-out-of-jail-free card to a man who did his bidding.
The problem with this is that it is impossible to make the case that Scooter Libby would have received clemency if he were not 1) a Republican, 2) who personally knows Bush, and 3) one whose crime was committed in defense of Bush. This is a brazen abuse of power, which undermines the once-noble notion of clemency and turns it into just another political club to wield. It does more than weaken the presidential prerogative for mercy, it debases the entire federal criminal justice system.
In “his” book, A Charge to Keep, then-Governor Bush lays out clearly the grounds on which clemency should be granted: “In every case I would ask: Is there any doubt about this individual’s guilt or innocence? And, have the courts had ample opportunity to review all the legal issues in this case?”
Can one seriously argue that Libby qualifies under this standard? The book’s Bush-character also was circumspect about the reasons a chief executive might want to be reticent about clemency: “I don’t believe my role is to replace the verdict of a jury with my own, unless there are new facts or evidence of which a jury was unaware, or evidence that the trial was somehow unfair.”
“Unless,” he must have meant to add, “you’re my boy and I’m looking out for you.”
I’m afraid it’s all just the latest in a presidency that is growing more rancid by the day.
The Sage
Steve
E the Wise
DFV the Scribe
hairybeast
Mo K.
Sting the Away
Rudy
Voice of Reason
Anthony Rogers
Vérité
Isaiah's Cry
danagall
Hal Jordan
The Rat
Aquinas Shrugged
jackcurtis
a west texas view
pino
Cultural Limits
Regalo Di Spine
Tokyo Tengu
Short Little Rebel
AWOL Civilization
SeePamBlog
rogueoperator
provider4many
jimmullen1
thomaspaine2nd
badoracle
ljponders
weeicemon
Daniella Nicole
plainansimple
