Of course, Bush immediately issued a statement that he's going to try to work around the decision based on the Court's language that the military tribunals were not supported by any act of Congress.

Somehow he just can't get his little dino-brain around the concept that he doesn't get his way all the time....

Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a strongly worded dissent from Thursday's ruling and took the unusual step of reading part of it from the bench -- something he had never done before in his 15 years. He said the court's decision would "sorely hamper the president's ability to confront and defeat a new and deadly enemy."

I don't see anything regarding law in this statement. Is this guy what they are referring to when they talk about liberal activists judges?

The shrill level of bullcrap coming from the chimpy cabal just emphasises the need for checks and balances. The Congressheeple are not willing to deny him any of his fascist agenda, thank God there is a way around chimpies madness.

The constant Constitutional violations, military aggression willfully violating long standing laws meant to protect people from tyranny shows the real need to replace the entire cabal and try to bring peacefull negotiation back into play in the world arena.

STOP THE WAR NOW!!!

Hail to Judge Paul Stevens and his fellow judges! Hail to the rule of law! Fellow conservatives, the president is not ABOVE america and it's rule of laws. If the executive were ABOVE america and its rule of laws, he IS NOT our american president!

#1) oh they get their way all the time they just pretend like they don't in order to fool the masses and delay the dissent that is inevitably coming.
-------------------------
the president--when it comes to waging the war on terrorism--can generally do whatever he deems necessary.
the Bush administration has argued that Bush's obligations as commander in chief trump all.
a strong president is needed to combat terrorist and that no restraints should be placed upon the chief executive,
After all, a dictator might more effectively deal with terrorists than a president who has to worry about congressional oversight
Bush has said we are different from our enemies. We do have to engage in this conflict in ways that are fundamentally different from the means our foes employ.
----------
lame. it is all well and good to calmly report what is officially said or left unsaid but it is past time to either denounce or support bushco's war of terror for profit.

the ha theorem:
since the acts of and even the merest threat of terrorism are contrived and perpetrated/foisted upon john Q by those who stand to gain the most financially from the very acts/threats of said terrorism, the 'spy program' that is derived by those very same contrivers and is claimed to be designed to uncover terrorist plots can only really have as it's motive the uncovering of dissent by john Q to such heavy-handed tactics.

OVER 500 WMDS FOUND IN IRAQ!!! I GUESS THAT MEANS THAT THOSE WHO HAVE CALLED BUSH A LIAR, ARE ACTUALLY LYING THEMSELVES!!!

WASHINGTON — The United States has found 500 chemical weapons in Iraq since 2003, and more weapons of mass destruction are likely to be uncovered, two Republican lawmakers said Wednesday.
"We have found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, chemical weapons," Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., said in a quickly called press conference late Wednesday afternoon.

Reading from a declassified portion of a report by the National Ground Intelligence Center, a Defense Department intelligence unit, Santorum said: "Since 2003, coalition forces have recovered approximately 500 weapons munitions which contain degraded mustard or sarin nerve agent. Despite many efforts to locate and destroy Iraq's pre-Gulf War chemical munitions, filled and unfilled pre-Gulf War chemical munitions are assessed to still exist."...

"This says weapons have been discovered, more weapons exist and they state that Iraq was not a WMD-free zone, that there are continuing threats from the materials that are or may still be in Iraq," said Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.

The weapons are thought to be manufactured before 1991 so they would not be proof of an ongoing WMD program in the 1990s. But they do show that Saddam Hussein was lying when he said all weapons had been destroyed, and it shows that years of on-again, off-again weapons inspections did not uncover these munitions....

Santorum pointed out that during Wednesday's debate, several Senate Democrats said that no weapons of mass destruction had been found in Iraq, a claim, he said, that the declassified document proves is untrue.

"This is an incredibly — in my mind — significant finding. The idea that, as my colleagues have repeatedly said in this debate on the other side of the aisle, that there are no weapons of mass destruction, is in fact false," he said.

So Capt, Pande, Hajji, Robert Schwartz, and other progressives, now fess up and apologize to Bush and ADMIT that Iraq did have WMDs, and Bush did NOT LIE(!), and that YOU were WRONG to call Bush a liar.

http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/Iraq_WMD_Declassified.pdf

He ain't MY president, Rob! Nice try, Bushie, with the ears and all, but ALFRED E. NEWMAN is still MY president!

Bill #2,

Clarence Thomas is a political hack and an intellectual lightweight. As Al Franken noted today, he rarely poses any questions to lawyers arguing before the Court, nor does he usually read any decisions or dissents publicly. He was offended because Dear Leader lost a close one.

And close it was. Shrub needs one more appointment to become Dic(k)tator.

Right now, we have a republic - if we can keep it.

bush is a liar and i call him and his co. liars.

Timmy, Timmy, Timmy....where 'ya been? The DOD debunked the Sad, Sad Santorum "findings" a week or more ago.

How many miles to the gallon is 'yer wife gettin' on the John Deere?

She's a HOTTIE!

-T

"Fox News’ Jim Angle contacted the Defense Department who quickly disavowed Santorum and Hoekstra’s claims. A Defense Department official told Angle flatly that the munitions hyped by Santorum and Hoekstra are “not the WMD’s for which this country went to war.”

Et Tu, FOX?

Gee, it took Tim a week to come here to crow about Santorum's publicity stunt, even though the story has been discredited several times over.

David Kay says the stuff under my kitchen sink is more dangerous than that crap.

Tim, you haven't been sniffing stuff from under the sink, have you?

Don...

Funny thing is...that's EXACTLY what I'm doing under mine!

Some of this stuff is not only dangerous...it is just as old as the chemical munitions Donny Rumsfeld sold Saddam in the 80's! (either I should clean more often, or Jill should stop buying cleaning products for a while, even IF the coupons are about to expire!)

-T

please don't spend the whole thread proving that timL is a fool. that's just what the DOT would have us wasting time with. it is a nice day out, even if a tad warm for my taste. go outside!

Anybody think Dumbya is thinking he could just issue a signing statement that'll get him out of this?

Spy,

I'd go outside, but it IS a little too frikken hot!

I'm cleaning inside and the animals are sorting out the pecking order with the re-addition of Ike, the "prodigal puppy!

So far he's learned to stay out of range of Pabla's hooves, Goatdiva's horns and Boozer's food!

-T

DAvid:

A SCOTUS War on Terror decision! Something worthy of my dropping in w/my 2 bits.....

Going against the grain (yet again), I don't read the present SCOTUS decision as "a harsh swipe at the Bush administration". To me, in the larger context, it's a victory for Bush and the Right. Americans would prefer to see that Bush & Co. are doing `too much', rather than `too little'......Hasn't the (lack of) reactions from the NSA wiretapping taught the Left anything?

The SC ruling to `rein in' (terror fighter) Bush, IS a good reminder to what HE IS DOING... even with some questionable basis for jailing/holding hundreds of `enemy combattants'.

Fact is, we have never had to deal with hundreds of Jihadists caught in the field. They are most certainly NOT the POW referred to in the Geneva Convention. We are in essence, exploring the compromises needed for establishing the `Rules of Engagement' for combatting these Islamic Extremists! Gitmo has become a problem on so many fronts and now, Bush's next decision on it can be pawned off on: "well, the SC sort of made me do it"!

Is it still flooding in the DC area? I was just wondering if Dubya is still wearing the floaties under his suit jacket.
They don't dare let 'im go into the deep end by himself. Holding hands with Chainee, maybe, if he didn't just eat his Trix.

Happy, you came back to unleash more of your unabashed babble. The SC's order was a win for Dubya is 'bout the only thing I could follow, and of course that was wrong. The rest is just more 'all over the place' b/s that I doubt you even understand.
Before that we had one of the Timz pop in for his dose of babble. The right should be ashamed of the quality of 'stock' they're filled with.

Hajji,

Do you remember this one from childhood?

(sung to the tune of the "Colonel Bogey March")

Comet...
It makes your teeth turn green!
Comet...
It tastes like vaseline!
Comet...
It makes you vomit
So go buy Comet
And vomit
TODAY!

I hope Timmy didn't get into any of that!

Right now, we have a republic - if we can keep it

By Don

Don, I like your republic very much. Why without the help of liberal activists like yourself, my war against America would not be successful. If my jihadists were captured in one of my countries they would have been hanged. You've got to love America. Freedom to bring down the Great Satan with the help of it's own people like you doesn't get any better.

Thank you America!!!!

Hajji

I'm going to give you twenty virgins!

Hajji

If you can get my fellow jihadists amnesty like in Iraq, I will give you 30 virgins.

"it wasn't always a given that the United States and America would have a close relationship..." - Guess who?

thank you scotus

Dear Mr Don,

I am writing to you as my new pen pal and would like to request sponsorship for the new "House a Gitmo foreign exchange terrorist" I promise not to behead anyone related to you for all your hard work in freeing me from the Evil American oppressors. You may want to put me up in your guest house since I will be working with explosives.

Sincerely,

A greatful terrorist

arp

No, thank you.

Stupid troll tricks!

LBH+Osama=Morons²

Osama,

I'm too old to start training "virgins", much less 30 of 'em!

(for the WV definition of 'virgin' e-mail me)

Can I trade 'em for 1 good, somewhat experienced and open-minded woman with a nice singing voice who knows when to go home?

-T

oh, yeah...lawn-tractor riding experience is a MUST!

We still are a republic but don't kid yourself - there are those with the agenda of destroying what we have - some of them are among the ruling class.

Can I trade 'em for 1 good, somewhat experienced and open-minded woman with a nice singing voice who knows when to go home?

"Hajji's request"

Dear loyal one, I would like to honor your request and give you Ms Helen Thomas in place of the 30 virgins. Since you've been such a loyal jihadist. I will even throw in some of Rush Limpbaugh's Viagra, free of charge. Helens an animal.

We still are a republic but don't kid yourself - there are those with the agenda of destroying what we have - some of them are among the ruling class.
Joe

Don't forget me Joe. It can stay our little secret.

Mr Den,

You just keep working on getting Rove indicted and you will get your share of virgins also. You must earn them as Don and Hajji have.

Osama,

I've got about 3,500 nephrology patients, here in the Upstate of SC, who'd pay a BUNCH of dollars to your cause, if only you'd share your secret of how you dialyze without electricity, in a cave, with no heparin, no shunt, no machine.

-T

Pathetic

I think LBH got into the Comet.

Oh faithful ones, I need your help once again. I am very worried now, please help.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

The Iraq Solution

The Pentagon announced TODAY the formation of a new 500-man elite fighting unit called the United States Redneck Special Forces (USRSF).

These Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, West Virginia, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas boys will be dropped off into Iraq and have been given only the following facts about terrorists:

1. The season opened today.
2. There is no limit.
3. They taste just like chicken.
4. They don't like beer, pickups, country music or Jesus.
5. They are directly responsible for the death of Dale Earnhardt.

The Pentagon expects the problem in Iraq to be over by Friday.

Osama,

It is in the mounting of shotguns on the decks of bass-boats that the problem lies.

Are the Largemouth biting on the Euphrates this time of year?

Paid troll in the house!

I wonder how long it will be before bush's DoJ (oxymoron) rules that bush has the power to construe today's Gitmo ruling in a manner *consistent* with the constitution, as they interpret it.

Our government relies on the leaders of each branch to exercise self-restraint but bush has declared himself the judge of his own powers, so whenever necessary, he rules in his favor! (Voila! I am king! So there!)

In the meanwhile, however, I am enjoying this serious rebuke to bush and his boyfriends. Go SCOTUS!

Thank you, David, for your insightful think piece on this issue!

Are the Largemouth biting on the Euphrates this time of year?

Ah, Hajji, you know that I've been a guest in your home for the last three years. Be proud of your loylaty to me.

Well, well. Three activist judges, Scalia, Thomas and Roberts. Not libral activist judges, mind you. Ultra-reactionary activist judges, who want to take us back to before the Magna Carta. Which was? 1252?

Why do I increasingly feel that David Corn is sorta like Alice in Wonderland? "No, no," said the Red Queen, "verdict first, trial afterwards." ... and then she finally awoke and said, "Why you're nothing but a pack of cards." Washington, D.C., gives ever fresh meanings to "pack of cards."

yeah, but this one's almost funny!

Don,

Re: Comet, Vomit, etc.

The worst thing about my brain is how music and lyrics are able to entrench themselves for my entire life.

While it is nice to be able to sing "Come Sail Away" in Cartman's voice, no less) at the drop of a hat, when somebody mentions just about anything, it tends to set off a jingle in my head.

My old Mudshark Buddy, EBP, used to say that driving to a gig with me was "like a friggin' "Name that Tune" marathon!"

It is still just as painful for those around, as it is for me!

-T

Osama,

Yeah...stop using my toothbrush, dickweed!

Benson,

A pack of cards too greasy to deal!

-T

"White House Spokesman Tony Snow said after the ruling that about 100 of the 450 detainees are listed to be returned to their own countries. But there is a problem there.

Some of them are enemies of their own governments - those from Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan for example. They cannot just be sent back to an unknown fate." BBC News

Isn't it haertening to know we are protecting them from a fate worse than death by their detention?

Thomas, Scalia and Alito were probably the dissenters, and Roberts had to recuse himself since the whole Gitmo thing was partially his plan to begin with.

I just scanned the document and it was these three. It cracks me up to hear scholars say that these men are above politics and capable to hear a case on its merits.

Re #48: geof01, thanks for the correction. But it doesn't matter in that it's a stacked deck. There are two jacks of hearts, Alito and Roberts.

Osama,

Yeah...stop using my toothbrush, dickweed!

Mr Hajji, be nice or I'll have my way with you like last night!

Christian Archaeology Team Believes It Has Found the Ark
____________

June 29, 2006 — A team of Texas archaeologists believe they may have located the remains of Noah's Ark in Iran's Elburz mountain range.

"I can't imagine what it could be if it is not the Ark," said Arch Bonnema of the Bible Archaeology Search and Exploration (B.A.S.E) Institute, a Christian archeology organization dedicated to looking for biblical artifacts.

Bonnema and the other B.A.S.E. Institute members hiked for seven hours in the mountains northwest of Tehran, climbing 13,000 feet before making the apparent discovery.

"We got up to this object, nestled in the side of a hill," said Robert Cornuke, a member of the B.A.S.E. Institute. "We found something that has my heart skipping a beat."
___________

Well, then, there 'ya go!

The Old Testament is factual! "Eye for and Eye" is law!

Custody battles to be settled with a sword!

Don't need nukes, TRUMPETS will be the new "Bunker-Busters!!!"

sigh...

-T

Osama,

Just so long as you don't try to kiss me...that "toothbush" is actually the TOILET BRUSH!!!

Osama,

I've got about 3,500 nephrology patients, here in the Upstate of SC, who'd pay a BUNCH of dollars to your cause, if only you'd share your secret of how you dialyze without electricity, in a cave, with no heparin, no shunt, no machine.

-T

Mr Hajji, Howard Dean has sent me his best medical team available. I have much gratitude towards the haters of Bush, the evil one. However, I'm very concerned that if Mr Dean regains control of the White House in 08, my support will vanish. I look forward to left nut bloggers, like yourself, to carry on my mission.

how many arks does that make now?

Osama,

Just so long as you don't try to kiss me...that "toothbush" is actually the TOILET BRUSH!!!

If I were you, i would be more worried about the condom I used on you last night that had a whole in it. You know you love me, come on say it like you mean it!

Magna Carta signed in 1215. So the infamous three want to return us to about 1213. Maake something out of that number!

1213 is the number of virgins assigned to liberal bloggers that have helped me, again, win victory over America the Great Satan.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

"...However, I'm very concerned that if Mr Dean regains control of the White House in 08, my support will vanish..."

Yep, I pretty much feel the same way, since the current White House occupants have done more to drive monetary support, publicity and new recruits to you than you could ever have amassed yourself.

Now, give me back my TEVAs you sandal-stealing son of a Saudi Prince!

-T

Yep, I pretty much feel the same way, since the current White House occupants have done more to drive monetary support, publicity and new recruits to you than you could ever have amassed yourself.

T.

Hajji, you're so modest. I've always had my people amassed to myself. It's all the new liberal bloggers that have amassed to me that are what I'm talkin bout!

Osama,

Sorry I couldn't make it last night, but worry not about your prophilactic predicament. My dog ROVER still wimpers in appreciation of your attention in the kennel!

(this, btw, is as far as I'll carry this charade, thanks for the humor)

-T

Hajji,

Is this what you American liberal bloggers call foreplay? I like it.

(this, btw, is as far as I'll carry this charade, thanks for the humor)
T.

See you tonight! Tell rover to keep my spot warm until I get there and don't start without me this time!

Mr Don and Mr Hajji, can you please work on correcting this injustice for us? Thank you!

The Christian Science Monitor gets the facial decision correctly:

The court ruled 5-to-3 Thursday that Mr. Bush acted outside his authority when he ordered Al Qaeda suspects to stand trial before these specially organized military commissions. The ruling said that the commission process at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, could not proceed without violating US military law and provisions of the Geneva Conventions. "The commission lacks power to proceed," writes Justice John Paul Stevens for the court majority.

It also correctly describes what the decision did not do. It says:

Supreme Court ruling does not address whether Guantanámo should remain open or shut down. Instead, it focuses on the process for holding commission trials established by the president....

And,

"It bears emphasizing that Hamdan does not challenge, and we do not today address, the government's power to detain him for the duration of active hostilities," Stevens writes.

Damn!

SCOTUS told King George he is not judge, jury and President, just President.

SCOTUS told King George he does not have a "blank check" because of war authorization.

They told him his tribunal plans are illegal and they told him to work with Congress to fashion a solution.

It was a narrowly defined decision. SCOTUS did not bitch-slap King George but they told him he was wrong, and they told him to work with Congress.

This is a good day for the union.

:)

"Work with CONGRESS!!?"

Sure I'll work with congress! Tell 'em to send up anything and I'll sign it. And THEN I'll sign that paper my legal chihuahua, 'Berto, slides in front of me sayin' "I don't NEED no STINKIN' CONGRESS!!!"

3
The shrill level of bullcrap coming from the chimpy cabal just emphasises the need for checks and balances. The Congressheeple are not willing to deny him any of his fascist agenda, thank God there is a way around chimpies madness.

The constant Constitutional violations, military aggression willfully violating long standing laws meant to protect people from tyranny shows the real need to replace the entire cabal and try to bring peacefull negotiation back into play in the world arena.

hoo-ra!

:)

"DO NOT KEEP SILENT when your own ideas and values are being attacked. ...If a dictatorship ever comes to this country, it will be by the default of those who keep silent. We are still free enough to speak. Do we have time? No one can tell." -- Ayn Rand, Philosophy: Who Needs It

=
"As soon as people drop the reins on government, government will leash the people." -- James Bovard

=
"He that always gives way to others will end in having no principles of his own." -- Aesop

=
"The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws." -- Tacitus, Roman senator and historian (A.D. c.56-c.115)

===

Thanks ICH Newsletter!

Why does the Wall Street Journal hate America?

:)

NANCY PELOSI WHACKS JACK MURTHA

(MONONGAHELA, June 29) – Washington County Commissioner and Pennsylvania 12th district Republican Congressional nominee Diana Irey – responding to a statement by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, in which Pelosi says the Supreme Court’s decision in the Guantanamo Bay case “reaffirms the rule of law” – today released the following statement:

“A little while ago, Nancy Pelosi released a statement to the press regarding today’s Supreme Court decision on military commissions trying detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Here’s what she said:

“Today’s Supreme Court decision reaffirms the American ideal that all are entitled to the basic guarantees of our justice system. This is a triumph for the rule of law.

“The rights of due process are among our most cherished liberties, and today’s decision is … a reminder of our responsibility to protect both the American people and our Constitutional rights. We cannot allow the values on which our country was founded to become a casualty in the war on terrorism.”

“I welcome Ms. Pelosi to the Irey Campaign Team, and hereby deputize her as a Colonel in the Irey Army – because in releasing that statement, she rebukes Jack Murtha for his reckless condemnation of U.S. Marines at Haditha and his unilateral decision to deprive them of THEIR rights of due process.

“Jack Murtha declared on May 17 that our Marines had ‘killed innocent civilians in cold blood’ – before the first Marine was charged, before the first court-martial was convened, before the first soldier was convicted. When he did that, he deprived our own soldiers of the very rights to due process that Nancy Pelosi extols.

“It’s an odd world, indeed, when Democrat leaders like Nancy Pelosi and Jack Murtha care more about making sure that people trying to kill us have rights to due process under the American legal system than they care about making sure that those very same rights apply to those courageous men and women sitting in the sands of Iraq, doing their best to defend us.

“I knew our campaign against Jack Murtha was making progress, but even I didn’t expect to have the top Democrat in the House joining our team so soon.”

Wheres the liberal bloggers when we really need them?

IRAN: WOMAN SENTENCED TO DEATH BY STONING

Tehran, 29 June (AKI) - A court in the northwestern Iranian city of Urmia has sentenced a Kurdish woman, Malak Ghorbany, found guilty of committing adultery to death by stoning - a sentence rarely carried out in recent years. The court also sentenced the woman's brother Abu Bakr Ghorbai and husband Mohammad Daneshfar to six years in jail for killing her lover. Stoning death sentences decreased after international pressure on former reformist president Mohammad Khatami contributed to the end of such rulings in the late 1990s. The punishment was however never scrapped from the penal code of the Islamic Republic.

The Committee for the defence of human rights of Iranian Kurdistan has issued a statement to save the life of Malak Ghorbani.

1213

Yes, indeed, james. In 1213 Ghengis Khan overran China. Now there was somebody who played by the rules. Looks like George XLIII is trying to emulate him, does it not?

FDA has declared that all drug companies are now immune to lawsuits

This "Final Rule," which may as well be called a "Final Solution" for drug consumers, claims that consumers can no longer sue drug companies for the harm caused by any FDA-approved drug, even if the drug's manufacturer intentionally misled the FDA by hiding or fabricating clinical trial data.
-------------
when corporations ruled the earth

Brain tease 1213 = XP

How

capt

i don't know DB, ghengis khan was at least up front about his motives and said exactly what he was going to do and why. hmmm, i guess he did play by the rules since he made the rules. i hate all the sneaky pretend motives for the neocon actions. if they had blatantly said "we need that oil and we're going to get it" they might be worthy of some respect. of course we can't even be certain that getting the oil is the motive. it has been suggested that limiting the oil to keep prices up is the true motive.
i realize you probably weren't even referring to the middle east but rather to the checks and balances as mr. corn puts it. that, i fear, is all merely distraction to somewhat pacify the masses into believing that bushco are not really being allowed to run rampant over whoever might be in the way of their "protecting us from terror".

and it takes me so long to type a post that i start out meaning to say one thing and by the time i am done it has become something else.
-----------
1213=XP
hmmm. i don't give up yet so don't give it away please.

well it was simple enough to figure out what 1213XP is, but that is probably not what you want so i still don't give up.

Re Supreme Court ruling,

All this does is make the "secret" tribunals "double secret." And if the congress doesn't lend a hand, "secret to the infinitive" tribunals. What do you expect for nothing? Rubber bisquits?

Bush vows to pursue detainee war trials

WASHINGTON - After a Supreme Court decision overruling war crimes trials for Guantanamo Bay detainees, President Bush suggested Thursday he would seek Congress' approval to proceed with trying terrorism suspects before military tribunals.

"To the extent that there is latitude to work with the Congress to determine whether or not the military tribunals will be an avenue in which to give people their day in court, we will do so," he said. "The American people need to know that the ruling, as I understand it, won't cause killers to be put out on the street."

Bush said little more, saying he had received only a "drive-by briefing" on the ruling just out earlier Thursday morning.

More HERE

*****end of clip*****

Bush does not care one lick for the constitution or the law. The SCOTUS does not side with him so he will just ignore them and conference with his cronies.

capt

Uhm...perhaps the most important website ever!

You be the "decider"!

Civilians, insurgents, Al Queda, et al.

They have no constitutional rights in the U.S. unless they are U.S. citizens. The constitution was written for U.S. citizens, not foreigners. To pretend otherwise is sheer idiocy. The Supreme Court is wrong, soon to be rectified by Congress. To declare the executive has no right to declare those captured, on the battlefield and not subject to the Geneva Convention, worthy of a trial as any U.S. citizen deserves is absurd on its' face. When Al Queda becomes a signee to the Geneva Convention, then maybe most of you on this site will have a valid argument. Until then, your logic is nothing more than convoluted.

#79
Capt,
What's Bush going to say? If he can't throw the detainees in jail for life and if he can't call them the enemy then he has to explain the detention and abuse these men have undergone. Telling me they are really bad people means nothing. I want proof. I want to hear about the evidence and I want to see the evidence. That's how it works in a democracy. Bush needs to take a civics class along with his ethics class.

This is totally off the subject, but I think Ned Lamont is going to kick Lieberman's butt. I can't wait to get some progressives in the Congress.

I would like to extend a special and heartwarming thanks to a dear friend of the family, Mr. George W. "I am truly not concerned about him (me)" Bush.

Yes, Mr. George "I don't know where bin laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority." Bush. Thank you for your loyalty.

Don't you mean "Liberals?" Or are you afraid of that word, Judy?

I can't wait to come to this site and view your comments when the House and Senate vote to give the President authority to either release those captured or have them face a military tribunal/commission. All of your so called hero's will grant the President the authority. Very few, if any, will vote to give terrorists the same rights as a U.S. citizen. Would you?
I'm sorry, I forgot who I was asking.

#81
What defines an enemy combatant?

An enemy combatabt fighting against our soldiers. How would you define it? Would you give enemy combatents due process? Do you think the enemy would give our soldiers the same?

capt, i am thru spinning my wheels and admit that i need a hint. but since a hint would only give it way that wouldn't really be fair would it? in short: i give up.

The reason that Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman and Adlai Stevenson had influence abroad, and the United States in their time had it, was because they moved this country here at home, because they stood for something here in the United States, for expanding the benefits of our society to our own people, and the people around the world looked to us as a symbol of hope.
______________

I'ma Librullllll!!!!

-T

Emmerson, I love the word liberal. And yes, I could have phrased it that way too; I can't wait until we get some true liberal candidates. I am very very proud to be a liberal.

#86
Under international law the men at GITMO have the right to a trial. If the Congress frames a way to a fair trial for each that is fine with me. If they have used violence against the US troops and against the people of Afghanistan then they deserve to be put in jail. If they were picked up because somebody could collect bounty money then I'd like them to be allowed to returned to their families and their lives.

Somebody needs to figure out a solution and it shouldn't be the Bush administration. They created the mess.

sorry...the best site ever keeps poping up!

LIBRULLLLLL

yeah, that's the ticket!

-T

Yeah....liberal. That's me. What of it?

Jeanne, I agree.

"Generally speaking, anyone physically in the U.S. will be treated as a citizen, with all rights guaranteed a citizen. There are some exceptions to this general rule. For example, while entering the United States (and physically in the United States), a foreign national can be detained and expelled. In some cases, detention is for an unlimited amount of time, and some illegal immigrants have been held for years on end."

Refer to Question 25 Here.

The protections in the Constitution are not limited to U.S. citizens.

International law does not grant those who are not citizens of the U.S. the same rights guaranteed to U.S. citizens by the constitution. They are, and hopefully forever, two separate things. Try being arrested in Turkey with heroin and arguing you are a U.S. citizen. Good luck. You are in Turkey, found with drugs on your person, Turkish laws prevail. Not international law.

emmerson, your chest thumping is growing tiresome.

I don't know of any so I'll ask the question Jeanne...

On what planet are those who screw up so royally the ones looked to when people decide to try and correct the situation?

Maybe CHERON, perhaps?

Are WE becoming Planet Cheron?

i thought they were rebels fighting against occupation/oppressors.
what if aliens invaded the u.s. under the guise of 'freeing us from tyranny' or some other nonsense and every bullet they fired or even left laying around was made of a poison that seeped into the earth and our bodies thus leaving us destitute for ages to come? and all this after destroying our electrical and water systems? and lets say that these aliens didn't differentiate between our fighters and non-fighters. what would YOU do emmerson?
do you expect the iraqis not to fight? of course they are enemy combatants. the american forces are also enemy combatants.

Who knows more about the law, emmerson or eight supreme court justices? (I believe Chief Justice Roberts recused himself.)

"Has the Enterprise returned to the course set for it by my orders?"

"Negative; the Enterprise is now moving in a circular pattern."

"And at warp 10, we're going nowhere mighty fast!"

- Kirk, Spock and Scotty

"Try being arrested in Turkey with heroin and arguing you are a U.S. citizen. Good luck. You are in Turkey, found with drugs on your person, Turkish laws prevail. Not international law."

Your hypothetical defeats your own argument...

NEXT!

Not chest thumping, just pointing out that the SC decision was wrong on its' face no matter if Pat Buchannon or Dennis Kucinich was President. FDR did it, Lincoln did it, yet this SC suddenly decides they trump the President? Won't happen, and I again can't wait to see how the so called "progressives" vote to reel this "illegal" administration in. Funny, GITMO is still operating today. The ruling changed nothing, other than the only way out. Do you think those in GITMO will will ever be brought to the U.S. for trial based on the current ruling? They just received a rot in hell pass courtesy of the SC unless they are cleared and returned to their country.

Hajji, I followed your link for Librullll. Wow, what a speech, I had not read that before. It's all so true for today's times. When a conservative calls me a liberal, I take it as a compliment.

there is no correlation between an american caught with heroin in turkey and an iraqi captured while fighting against an occupation in his own country and then dragged to GITMO.

Liberal is derived from the french word "liber" which means "free". I hate those freedom-loving liberals. But I love Mr. George W. "It's just a God-damned piece of paper (US Constitution)" Bush.

I am in favor of closing GITMO and returning all of them to Iraq or Afghanistan to face interrogation or charges. I say build 450 Kon-Tiki rafts and set them out to sea.

#99
I stand corrected.

"International law does not grant those who are not citizens of the U.S. the same rights guaranteed to U.S. citizens by the constitution."

To a certain extent, this is true. It is not "International law" (setting aside the problem of defining "international law") that defines the Gitmo prisoner's rights, it is US law.

According to SCOTUS in Hamdan, the UCMJ requires the administration to follow the "laws of war" in providing military trials and procedures. Currently, the Geneva Convention is a duly ratified treaty to which the US is a signer. Accordingly, the UCMJ reference to the "laws of war" includes the Geneva Convention unless and until the US abrogates that treaty.

Another nice thing about this opinion is that it repudiates the claim that Mr. Bush can act without constraint in areas of national security:

"The more I read and think about this opinion, the greater a death blow I think it deals -- at least on the legal front -- to the administration's Yoo theory of unlimited executive power. Not only Justice Kennedy in his concurrence, but also the Court's opinion itself, cited Justice Jackson's 3-prong Youngstown test to re-affirm the proposition that the President's constitutional powers must give way to duly enacted Congressional laws.

"More importantly,the Opinion repeatedly places great emphasis on what it calls "the powers granted jointly to the President and Congress in time of war" (See, for instance, Op. at p. 27; emphasis added in all citations). And in a direct repudiation of the administration's claim that Congress is without power to limit or regulate the war powers granted by the Constitution to the President, the Court explained (Op. at p. 29, fn. 23):

""Whether or not the President has independent power, absent congressional authorization, to convene military commissions, he may not disregard limitations that Congress has, in proper exercise of its own war powers, placed on his powers. See Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, 343 U. S. 579, 637 (1952) (Jackson, J., concurring).

"Whether intended or not, that paragraph, by itself, dispenses with the central misconception -- the myth -- most frequently relied upon by Bush followers in defending the administration's violations of FISA. Specifically, they assert that cases which, pre-FISA, held that the President has inherent authority to eavesdrop mean that Congress cannot regulate that power."

More here.

Emmerson...

I am in favor of closing GITMO and returning all of them to Iraq or Afghanistan to face interrogation or charges. I say build 450 Kon-Tiki rafts and set them out to sea.

Dude, really, you DO realise that with the Gulfstream, they most likely float to the Eastern Florida shore... Worst case scenario...BAHAMAS, BABY!!!

You're really not too bright, R'ya?

Funny, GITMO is still operating today.

what's NOT funny, emmerson, is that you see nothing wrong with that. as long as your side is winning in the all important left v. right, then you don't care what your side gets up to, right?

I was being "fececes" about the Kon-Tiki. I wouldn't give terrorists the worthiness of the braveness of Thor Hyerdahl. They are all cowards.

GITMO exists because the U.S. is treating the enemy far better than the treatment they would receive in their own countries. The U.S. values them for what they might know. Their host countries would likely put them to death.

Who knows more about the law, emmerson or eight supreme court justices?
emmerson? no
emmerson - law school = emmerson
emmerson + 0 = troll?
emmerson's authoritative source is powerline

113 terrorists are cowards. huh?

Franklin's Gulfstream Chart

Emmerson,
You wrote:
An enemy combatabt fighting against our soldiers. How would you define it? Would you give enemy combatents due process? Do you think the enemy would give our soldiers the same?
-------------
Would you give enemy combatents due process?
Yes I would. That's the only way the system will work. If Bush is going to spread Democracy he has to practice it.

Ever heard of the Dred Scott decision? The SC can be a Supreme bunch of Cjesters when they want to be. They are not God. Not that I expect you to believe in a Superme Being. But then, I somehow get the feeling that government is your God.

"the SC decision was wrong on its' face"

What is your basis for this legal conclusion? At this point, I can only respond with "No, it's not."

"FDR did it, Lincoln did it...."

Did what, exactly? You are long on conclusion and short on facts.

"I say build 450 Kon-Tiki rafts and set them out to sea."

Not unless the Republicans remove the US as a party to the Geneva Convention and repeal the McCain anti-torture law that was recently passed. (Otherwise, your proposal is either hyperbole or a call for the commission of war crimes.) In the Hamdan opinion, SCOTUS told Mr. Bush that, yes, he does have to obey the law. See my comment 110 above.

One thing Lincoln did say: "I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday."

"due process" is in the U.S. Constitution. Non citizens will receive it when it is in theirs, and in their country.

"the SC decision was wrong on its' face"

What is your basis for this legal conclusion? At this point, I can only respond with "No, it's not."

"FDR did it, Lincoln did it...."

Did what, exactly? You are long on conclusion and short on facts.

"I say build 450 Kon-Tiki rafts and set them out to sea."

Not unless the Republicans remove the US as a party to the Geneva Convention and repeal the McCain anti-torture law that was recently passed. (Otherwise, your proposal is either hyperbole or a call for the commission of war crimes.) In the Hamdan opinion, SCOTUS told Mr. Bush that, yes, he does have to obey the law. See my comment 110 above.

One thing Lincoln did say: "I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday."

Take a civics course. Go to law school. Learn something so you can make value judgements about the material you read on powerline.

Ever heard of the Dred Scott decision? The SC can be a Supreme bunch of Cjesters when they want to be. They are not God. Not that I expect you to believe in a Superme Being. But then, I somehow get the feeling that government is your God.
Posted by: emmerson at June 29, 2006 11:17 PM

Go with this argument. I think it's your best one so far.

Repeat after me...

I was:
being "fececes"I was being "fececes"I was being "fececes"I was being "fececes"I was being "fececes"I was being "fececes"I was being "fececes"I was being "fececes"I was being "fececes"I was being "fececes"I was being "fececes"I was being "fececes"I was being "fececes"........

The plural of "FECES" is uhm..."FECES!"

The advjective is "FECAL".

That is what you're being!

The Constitution. Read it and then tell me who is wrong. Of course, there are those of you who believe a separation of church and state is actually there and the right to an abortion. I don't expect you to read it or find it or really even try.

Emmerson, I'm just curious, do you consider yourself a Christian?

Plop! Flush!

FECAL!

""due process" is in the U.S. Constitution. Non citizens will receive it when it is in theirs, and in their country."

Did you read No. 96 above?

Fitz @ 114:

emmerson + 0 = troll?

Yes. I'm done with him/her.

""due process" is in the U.S. Constitution. Non citizens will receive it when it is in theirs, and in their country."

Did you read No. 96 above?

Fitz @ 114:

emmerson + 0 = troll?

Yes. I'm done with him/her.

My first double post (I think). My apologies.

We have a leader who bought a business degree and now claims he understands international law.

You are going to argue that the correct answer to today's supreme court decision can be found exclusively in the Constituion, and that it has nothing to do with international treaties negotiated by the president and ratified by congress, stare decisis, and more recent SJC precedence?

Bad choice.

I was being "facetious" when I said I was being "fececes." Thank you for being the only one who was smart enough to point that out. So much for "fecal" matter.

S Colbert is calling for disbanding the Supreme Court. Who's with him?

And on another happy note....
Northeast floods stir global warming debate

My religion is none of your business. Would you be shocked if I said I was Muslim? How would you know I wasn't?

Him/Her. When you can't win you dismiss without validity. Read the Constitution, I know you couldn't have in the time frame that I challenged you to, or better yet, call up Senator Byrd and have him read it to you. I bet he votes to give the President the authority to detain those in GITMO and not allow them access to the U.S. criminal justice system. You are just too much of a coward to admit it.

Governor's nonprofit foundation has paid pollster, former campaign finance chief

Gov. Jeb Bush has used his recently revived nonprofit foundation to pay a former campaign finance director and two former campaign aides.

Although Bush has said his Foundation for Florida's Future is not a way of keeping his political machine intact after he leaves office early next year, recent disclosures on the foundation's Web site show that it paid:

-Nearly $99,000 to Ann Herberger, Bush's campaign finance director during two campaign and a longtime political fund-raiser for his family.

-Nearly $70,000 to Neil Newhouse of Washington-based GOP Public Opinion Strategies group for polling last October.

-$48,000 for "management services" to a lobbying and public-affairs firm whose staff includes Mandy Clark and Mandy Fletcher. Both worked on Bush's reelection campaign and on his brother's presidential reelection campaign.

-$23,500 for "legal services" from the Washington law and lobbying firm Patton Boggs.

-$20,000 in February to GOP political strategist Adam Goodman's The Victory Group Inc

......."It's all pretty transparent, complying with the new law," Bush said. "Ann Herberger gets money when she raises money. It's kind of how she makes a living."

But when asked about the subject of the $70,000 poll, Bush said, "I'm not going to tell you."
-------------
I'm not going to tell you. That's kinda how the Bush dynasty works.

Jeanne,

Anything that happens "weather-wise", as Melanie Walters (of WOWK-TV 13...can't believe there's nothing "googlable) used to say, will "stir" the Global Warming debate.

Unfortunately the soup that occurs will be clouded by corporate and political (like there's a difference) pundits who'll argue untill their own grandchildren evolve gills that "It is all just a myth!".

Or sumpthin'...tired...gonna drink this last glass of merlot and call it what it is...a NIGHT before it becomes a MORNING!

G'nite!

p.s. Melanie was also known for saying... Temperatures will be PLUMMETING UPWARD" and "...VERY cold tonight, so you might want to bring your BRASS MONKEYS inside!" GOSH I miss weather-girls!

-T

-T

Feces...
It makes your teeth turn...

Ahhh, fuggedaboutit. I'm too tired.

Senator Byrd's ACTION re:Guantanamo
______________
Last month, in a little-noticed vote, the Senate
rejected Democratic Senator Robert Byrd's proposal to
delete funding for the US prison at Guantanamo Bay,
Cuba. The amendment to the Emergency Supplemental
Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on
Terror, and Tsunami Relief, 2005 would have stripped HR
1268 of $36 million earmarked for construction of a
permanent, 220-person military prison at Guantanamo.
Opponents of the amendment said a new prison would keep
detainees from being transferred to the United States,
where terrorists might seek to free them.
__________________

Yeah...Byrd...uh huh...

G'nite!

C'mon "emmmerrrrrsunnnnn"...

You can do better...you've got a good heart...just stop trusting your BRAIN so much!

G'nite! Really!

-T

'Nite Don!

****Breaking News, Breaking News****

Bin Ladin captured and being transported to GITMO. 6-28-06.

SC decision 6-29-06.

****Breaking News, Breaking News****

Bin Ladin shot while being escorted to plane to transport him to GITMO. Again, again and again.

********New York Times********

Bush fails to bring Bin Ladin to Justice.

You liberals are so funny.

Byrd knows the Constitution. I didn't say he knew anything else, which he doesn't.

Bin Laden praises al-Zarqawi as ‘lion of jihad’
______________

CAIRO, Egypt - Osama bin Laden praised slain al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as the “lion of holy war” in a new videotape posted on the Web on Friday.

The 19-minute message shows an old still photo of bin Laden in a split-screen next to images of al-Zarqawi taken from a previous video. A voice resembling bin Laden’s narrates a tribute to the Jordanian-born militant, who was killed in a June 7, airstrike northeast of Baghdad.

It was the fourth message put out this year by al-Qaida leader bin Laden. All have featured his voice in audiotapes. New video images of him have not appeared since October 2004.
__________

Duuude! You should show you face!

-T

When does Late Night on DavidCorn.com start?

The Supreme Court decision is only a slight bump for Hitler Bush. He is adored and worshipped by Nazi Americans. Hitler Bush is the mirror image of majority Americans. Everytime you look at Hitler Bush, you are seeing the real America, an evil nation. Hitler Bush reigns supreme in Nazi America. He is the bushgod for Nazi Americans.

He can't. He is a "pigment" in the mind of GW's lies according to those on this site. How do we know the pictures they proclaim to have of him are really him? I think this should be left to a higher authority to find out. Maybe the NYT. Put Blair on this.

Cospiracy? Or is this just the daily dose of sugar you Libs take in the morning to get you through the day. All hype, only to face the consequential let down.

Let God In

Dear Cornposters:

I believe that it is very important to let God in to our hearts and lives. We should walk toward God and not walk backwards from God. Walking backwards is abnormal. Take time to talk to God! God is not a conversationalist but He is a great listener. Talk to Him like you would talk to your own father. God loves to hear from us.

God loves us. He does not love our sinful ways but the more we talk to God and the more we let Him into our hearts and lives the less time we will have for our sinful ways. This is a major reason why we should let God enter into our hearts and lives. Less sin in our lives will be more pleasing to God.

Sincerely,

Gerald

Proud Adoptive Parents

The Republican Rubber Stamp Congress is ramping up the Waving the Flag Amendment again for the grand finale of Wedge Issue June.

Perhaps Bill Frist and his Rubber Stamp Brigade ought to have a conversation with George Bush about flag desecration. He and his Sharpie have some 'splainin' to do.

PICTURE

Why are my tax dollars paying Karl Rove?s salary for his butt to park itself in the public space of the West Wing of the White House, but work on Republican political campaigns across the country?

From the LATimes:

Perhaps more than any other administration, the White House of George W. Bush has mastered the art of mixing politics and policy and keeping track of how federal government decisions can affect even obscure local elections. Rove, with a broad portfolio and extraordinary influence, introduced a new political doctrine, effectively putting the federal bureaucracy and the bully pulpit of the White House in the service of GOP political ends.

All administrations are political, of course. But never before has the White House inserted electoral priorities into Cabinet agencies with such regularity and deliberation. Before the 2002 midterm elections, for instance, Rove or Mehlman visited with the managers of many federal agencies to share polling information and discuss how policy decisions might affect key races.

(link)

I went to a garden party... no, I'm not trying to plant that tune in your brain. I just got back from a party & had some albino whiskey. Time for Thursday night (early Friday morning) Funnies.

---+---

"What is it with Republicans and Viagra? First Bob Dole, he was doing the ads for Viagra. Now you got Rush Limbaugh. Say what you want about Bill Clinton, but the man was always there to answer the call, ladies and gentlemen"
--Jay Leno

"A powerful storm in Washington, D.C. knocked over a 100-year-old Elm tree on the White House lawn. President Bush was not hurt because he was playing in a different tree at the time"
--Conan O'Brien

"In fact, President Bush is so angry at the New York Times he said today he's not even going to pretend to read it anymore."
--Jay Leno

"And terrible rains in Washington, D.C. this week. In fact, Karl Rove's office was leaking again."
--Jay Leno

"Heavy rains caused so much flooding in Washington, D.C. today that they had to close down the National Archives where they keep the Constitution. They had to close it down. Luckily the Bush administration isn't using the Constitution anymore."
--Jay Leno

"President Bush got back tonight from his very brief trip to Europe. Boy, remember the old days when it used to take longer than two days to visit all of our allies?"
--Jay Leno

"Actually, one awkward moment in Hungary. See, I don't think President Bush really prepares for these trips. Geography is not his area. He told the people of Budapest that although he believes in Jesus, he respects their leader, Buddha, as well."
--Jay Leno

"President Bush gave the commencement address at the Merchant Marine Academy. ... While he was there a cadet, who took six years to graduate, surprised President Bush by giving him a bear hug. When asked about it, the cadet said, 'President Bush is an inspiration to everyone who takes six years to graduate.'"
--Conan O'Brein

"Congress gave itself a big raise this week and voted against the minimum wage, which is kind of ironic. I mean if anybody should getting minimum wage, it's Congress."
--Jay Leno

"The government of Afghanistan has sent a letter to the news stations and all journalists in that country ordering them to report only favorable news about the government. Now I know that sounds harsh, but you have to remember they don't have Fox News over there."
--Jay Leno

More Funnies:

If it weren't for the schizoid character of the Grand Ol Spending Party, they might be able to get somewhere with the war in Iraq. They've hitched their wagon to an out-of-control, not-fully-armored Humvee. For some reason the puppets in Iraq are spitting back, while our country is still coming to grips with its legacy in the middle east. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Little Ricky has made an ass of himself with an archeological discovery.

Congress, it seems, has discovered a soft patch of sand to stick their heads in. They've also reached a little deeper into our pockets. And while Santorum found the catapult, these other Congressmen found Jimmy Hoffa.

At first glance, I thought this said the "Phathead's head remained hard." Those are some pointy ears on that Fat head. If he knew how to read, this wouldn't be an issue.

Evidently, you gotta watch out for the green M&Ms and the blue Skittles.

With the 4th of July coming up, you might see this little get together at Emmerson's house and doesn't this little flag-waver look "Happy?"

This week it's :
Constitution - 2
Bushco - 0

Today brought a major victory for the rule of law –and a stunning defeat for the Bush Administration. Ruling 5-3 in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, the Supreme Court overturned an appeals court’s determination that military detainees are not entitled to fundamental due process rights including the right to be present at their trials and the right to confront witnesses against them. The hallmark of American justice and that of most civilized nations is that everyone is entitled to a fair trial, and today’s ruling sends a strong signal to the president that his administration cannot continue to ignore the rule of law.

People For the American Way Foundation filed an amicus brief in the case.
---------------
Congratulations. Tuesday night, the Senate voted to reject the Flag Desecration Amendment by one vote. We were just one vote away from changing our Constitution to curtail rights rather than expand them.
---------------------
Another victory and renewed momentum on the reauthorization of key provisions of the Voting Rights Act.

Yesterday, a band of renegade GOP House members' effort to undermine critical portions of the Act by imposing what Congressman Lewis (D-GA) called a "modern day literacy test" was soundly defeated.
--------------
Yours,
Ralph G. Neas
President
People For the American Way

There is a way to bring Osama Bin Laden to justice: Ask conservative bloggers and right-wing talking heads, they'll tell us. eh, emmerson?

#20: Childhood? It's the first time I've seen this parody! *snork*--Back to mining NaCl, KC

Is emmerson Happy? The writing style is hard to mask. But emmerson unlike Happy tries to engage people in argument like, well, factchecker.

factchecker taunts to engage people in argument "tell me where I'm wrong"; lbh taunts, not as a means to an end, but as an end unto itself.

the trolls see it as a zero sum game - they're right, you're wrong. the regulars like to learn something from each other.

the trolls like to post/paste unattributed "articles" sometimes 'redacting' parts of the article that contradict their assertions, and almost never provinding links to the source, even when requested.

you have to wonder what emmerson read today that made him so convinced the SJC truly erred in their 5-3 decision. Instead of pointing to his source, whatever article or articles he read, he pointed to the Constitution as if that document by itelf was the docuemnt he read today which led him to the conclusion about the 'wrongly decided' nature of the SJC decision.

Oh well. Too much time spent here edjumicating trolls. Nighty-nite.

Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish.
Euripides (484 BC - 406 BC)

If one speaks or acts with a cruel mind, misery follows, as the cart follows the horse... If one speaks or acts with a pure mind, happiness follows, as a shadow follows its source.
the Dhammapada

With reasonable men I will reason; with humane men I will plea; but to tyrants I will give no quarter, nor waste arguments where they will certainly be lost.
William Lloyd Garrison (1805 - 1879)

STEALING MEXICO

BUSH TEAM HELPS RULING PARTY "FLORIDIZE" MEXICAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

Whether the US "War on Terror" lists will find a use in Sunday's election, we cannot know. But the use of American government resources to interfere in south-of-the-border campaigns is an open secret. The GOP's International Republican Institute has run training sessions for the PAN youth wing, funded by US taxpayers through the "National Endowment for Democracy."

Foreign that is, American interference in political campaigns is a crime. That didn't stop Team Bush. However, when the theft of its citizen files was discovered, Argentina threatened to arrest ChoicePoint contractors until the company returned the tapes and Mexico's attorney general did in fact arrest the ChoicePoint data thieves to avoid his party from looking too much the stooge of its Washington patron. Whether George Bush gave back his copy, no one will say.

Wholesale theft is expected on Sunday in forms both subtle and brutal. How the US purloined "counterterrorism" lists will be used, we don't know. We are certain however, that the Administration did not siphon off these Latin voter files to fight a War on Terror. It appears, rather, part of the Bush Administration's and GOP's hemispheric War on Democracy along a battle line which runs from Florida to Ohio to Juarez.

More HERE

*****end of clip*****

Election stealing? Well I never!

capt

VA data recovered with informant's help

WASHINGTON The government has recovered stolen computer equipment that contains sensitive personal information on millions of veterans and active-duty troops, Veterans' Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson announced Thursday.

A preliminary examination indicated that the data was not accessed or duplicated since it was stolen from a VA analyst's home May 3, the FBI said.

The announcement was good news for as many as 26.5 million people whose names, birth dates and, in about 17.5 million cases, Social Security numbers may have been on the laptop computer and external hard drive, raising the fear of identity theft.

"It's great news. It's wonderful news," said Joe Davis, spokesman for the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

An unidentified informant turned the computer equipment over to U.S. Park Police on Wednesday, Park Police Chief Dwight Pettiford said. The park police turned it over to the FBI.

More HERE

*****end of clip*****

This is still a good time to work proactively to prevent any ID theft. One cannot be too careful in that regard.

capt

House of shame

Congress Republicans are steering clear of Bush as they struggle to hold their seats in midterm polls

President Bush's effectiveness as a domestic president is ending not with a bang but a whimper. Five months before the midterm elections, congressional Republicans fear that association with him may alienate their constituencies and result in loss of the House of Representatives. They hold the House by only 15 seats, and suddenly even previously safe districts are at risk. Just a month ago Bush delivered a televised address on immigration, urging Congress to provide for eventual citizenship for the more than 12 million illegal immigrants in the country (the pro-business position). He convinced the Senate, but the House refused to budge from its punitive position to criminalise any assistance to them.

The White House had hoped that the killing of the terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi would reverse Bush's slide in popularity. Indeed there was a slight bump upward of several points. But this is a classic epiphenomenon that has already started to wither. From the vantage point of Capitol Hill, Bush's evanescent Zarqawi "recovery" has failed to cast any glow on to Republican prospects. Enforcing party discipline for a purely political Congressional vote last week endorsing Bush's policy, such as it is, in Iraq has barely quelled panic. As Bush briefly nudged up from the low to mid-30s, Republican candidates fell further behind. For Republicans, Bush has become cement shoes.

More HERE

World's first supercomputer decommissioned

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., June 29 (UPI) -- The world's first teraflop computer has been decommissioned by the U.S. government despite still being among the world's 500 fastest supercomputers.

Although young in age, the historic supercomputer -- based at the Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, N.M., and known as ASCI Red -- is very old by supercomputer standards.

Sandia Vice President Rick Stulen eulogized this week: "ASCI Red broke all records and most importantly ushered the world into the teraflop regime. It still holds the record for the longest continuous rating as the world's fastest computer -- four years running."

A teraflop represents a trillion mathematical operations per second.

The supercomputer first broke the teraflops barrier in December 1996 and topped the world-recognized top-500 computer speed ratings seven consecutive times.

Sandia Director Bill Camp said ASCI Red had the best reliability of any supercomputer ever built, and "was supercomputing's high-water mark in longevity, price and performance."

Sandia officials said ASCI Red was "almost mystical in scalability," and that there is "a sense of sadness and also of satisfaction (in) the passing of such a great machine."

More HERE

*****end of clip*****

Technically "Teraflop" more accurately means: a trillion FLoating point OPerations per second.

capt

Where a calculator on the ENIAC is equipped with 18,000 vacuum tubes and weighs 30 tons, computers in the future may have only 1,000 vaccuum tubes and perhaps weigh 1.5 tons.

~ unknown, Popular Mechanics, March 1949

Wazzup, my homies! K to the I to the Dee-Shar on the blizzog!I walked home from the NaCl mine this morning and had time to think up some other verses to the tune of "Colonel Bogey's March".

Dubya
Our nation's worst exec
Dubya
The president from heck
Dubya
Nothing but "trubya"
He sent our soldiers
To die for
Big Oil

Dubya
He loves his macho talk
Dubya
An AWOL chickenhawk
Dubya
Nothing but "trubya"
He loots our money
To give to
His chums

Dubya
He never really won
Dubya
But Diebold put us on
Dubya
We tried to snub ya
But Elephascists
Were rigging
The votes

Cheney
He lied us into war
Cheney
A corporate fascist whore
Cheney
He's such a pain, he
Thinks he's Napoleon
Petroleum's
His goal

Rummy
He botches each attack
Rummy
Gen'rals can't tell him jack
Rummy
He's such a dummy
He broke the Army
What harm he
Has done

Limbaugh
So mean he'd kick a pup
Limbaugh
Needs pills to get it up
Limbaugh
He breaks the drug law
But he gets off 'cause
He's rich and
He's white

Lyrically yours, Kid Charlemagne

Nice job, KC. That tune lends itself to parody, does it not?

#165
We are a talented bunch, aren't we?

House vote slaps news organizations
_____________

The resolution, passed 227-183 on a largely party-line vote, did not specifically name the news organizations, but it was aimed at The New York Times and other news media that last week reported on a secret CIA-Treasury program to track millions of financial records in search of terrorists.

Most Democrats opposed the measure, protesting language in it that asserts that the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program was "rooted in sound legal authority" and that members of Congress had been appropriately briefed on the program.

While the Los Angeles Times and Wall Street Journal also carried stories on the program, Republicans singled out The New York Times.
__________________

Congress refuses to perform its duty to oversee the misAministration. Now they're hampering the media's obligation to keep tabs on the skullduggery of the executive.

What's next?

-T

KC,

Very adroit adaptation of the "Colonel Bogey's March" theme. Haven't had access to a computer for a few days, and didn't know if you had been discussing the song and the motion picture from whence it came.

Great movie, "The Bridge on the River Kwai". Was just on one of the cable channels. Alec Guinness was the second choice to play Col. Nicholson. Bill Holden wouldn't do his part, but the producer guaranteed him a payment of $1,000 per week for the rest of his life if he would. Of course, Guinness won the Academy Award.

Anyone know why they called it "Colonel Bogey's March", when there was no such character? Beats me.

KC

That was downright mean. You joshing the Rushter? Loved your ditty.

Hamster at #1. Over the holiday, we need to keep our spirits up. You have hit it on the nail though.

COLONEL BOGEY'S MARCH
whew! boy am i exhausted from the difficult task of checking the facts for col. bogey's march.

spy! Yes, it was a difficult task, eh? To add to your "elusive" find, I found this, at the click of the mouse:

What is the origin of the word 'bogey?'

The term 'bogey' comes from a song that was popular in the British Isles in the early 1890s, called "The Bogey Man" (later known as "The Colonel Bogey March"). The character of the song was an elusive figure who hid in the shadows: "I'm the Bogey Man, catch me if you can."

Golfers in Scotland and England equated the quest for the elusive Bogey Man with the quest for the elusive perfect score. By the mid to late 1890s, the term 'bogey score' referred to the ideal score a good player could be expected to make on a hole under perfect conditions. It also came to be used to describe stroke play tournaments – hence, in early Rules books we find a section detailing the regulations for 'Bogey Competitions.' It was only in the late 1900s/early 1910s that the concept of 'Par' started to emerge - this being the designated number of strokes a scratch player could be expected to take on a hole in ideal conditions. In this way par was distinguished from bogey. The term par itself is a standard term in sports handicapping, where it simply means 'level' or 'even.'

oh micki (you're so fine!) your having uncovered the origins of bogey beats my simple google search for col.bogey's march by a mile! my effort was simply not up to par. bogus!

micki,
As both a songster and a golfer (accomplished at neither), and lover of trivia, I appreciate your explanation of the etymology of the word "bogey".

Someone mentioned our Constitution and said it only applies to our citizens, sorry but they are wrong.

Quoting the Constitution.

ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL.

It does not say, all American(or white)men. It doesn't say women(implied as men is considered plural for both men and women)yet we know it applies to women, as well, it makes only sense that they thought ALL PEOPLE were created equal, not just those fortunate to born in a particular geographical location.

Why is it important that the faux-tribunals were shot down.

I present as evidence, article A

Guardian finds witnesses US military could not, in only 3 days

The US government said it could not find the men that Guant?namo detainee Abdullah Mujahid believes could help set him free. The Guardian found them in three days.

Two years ago the US military invited Mr Mujahid, a former Afghan police commander accused of plotting against the United States, to prove his innocence before a special military tribunal. As was his right, Mr Mujahid called four witnesses from Afghanistan.

But months later the tribunal president returned with bad news: the witnesses could not be found. Mr Mujahid's hopes sank and he was returned to the wire-mesh cell where he remains today.

The Guardian searched for Mr Mujahid's witnesses and found them within three days. One was working for President Hamid Karzai. Another was teaching at a leading American college. The third was living in Kabul. The fourth, it turned out, was dead. Each witness said he had never been approached by the Americans to testify in Mr Mujahid's hearing.

it's quite possible that when they composed the line all men are created equal they actually did mean all white men since at that time black men were slaves, brown and red people were targets and white women were ignored. probably black women were nothing more than toys. yellow people probably didn't even factor into the equation back then. only the founding mother f**ckers would know for sure.

Did everyone know that the 3/5th's rule was actually promulgated by the Northern states, not the Southern? The Northern states were afraid that counting all of the "Negroes" would result in an overrepresentation of the Southern states in Congress.

The delegation from New York was the main instigator.

If they wanted to include a qualifier, like all white men, or all "our men" I think they would have put it in. Considering how much thought was put into the Constitution and all the details covered I am certain it was left vaguely worded intentionally.

Never mind the whole silliness of creating the term "enemy combatant" as a means of circumnavigating the Geneva Accord, by denying them the rights afforded POW.

That's akin to saying they're not murderes, they're "life enders," and the laws only apply to murderers, not "life enders."

Hell of a game. Hell of a game. The Albicelestes of Argentina had possession, position and the early goal. Germany looked defeated until Argentina slacked off and allowed the single strike that leveled the score. 1-1 in extra time. They'll play a full 30 more and go to penalty kicks if the score is still tied. The South American team, including the coach with the rather unfortunate name Jose Pekerman, looks very comfortable playing against the home team.

As for the Gitmo ruling, It cracks me up to read how the decision is a rebuke to Bush -- as if he had any ability to make an informed decision on such matters. Clearly the blow is delivered not to the out of touch President but to the legal lightweights in the DOJ:
"'The executive is bound to comply with the rule of law that prevails in this jurisdiction,' Justice John Paul Stevens, writing for the 5-to-3 majority, said at the end of a 73-page opinion that in sober tones shredded each of the administration's arguments, including the assertion that Congress had stripped the court of jurisdiction to decide the case."

And for a party who has run out of ideas (if you consider torture and turning America into a Plutocracy "new ideas"), it has become painfully obvious that their agenda for the next 5 months will be to hop up and down in the manner of a 2-yr. old and scream "TRAITOR" at the top of their lungs. And showing that this ad hominem thuggery of the right has filtered upwards onto the highest court in the land, Clarence Thomas tries to take a swipe at Stevens only to make an ass of himself (again?):
[In the Hamdan decision,] "Justice Thomas refers to Justice Stevens' "unfamiliarity with the realities of warfare"; but Stevens served in the U.S. Navy from 1942 to 1945, during World War II. Thomas's official bio, by contrast, contains no experience of military service."

Chickenhawks rule the GOP.

Germania wins in the shootout. The tired goalie beat out the fresh goalie for the victory, stopping 2 penalty kicks.

Home team still alive.

US soldiers investigated in rape, murders in Iraq
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military is investigating whether U.S. soldiers raped an Iraqi woman and then killed her and three members of her family, including a child, south of Baghdad in March, officials said on Friday.

This sort of ugliness has probably been purpotrated in all wars throughout history. Only the wonders of the modern information age are bringing them out to the light of day. This is just another example of why we should be waging peace instead of war. Oh yeah, I forgot that's for treehugging commie libruls.

American Soldiers

2,842 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan for Bush and his lies.

18,500+ American soldiers have been maimed in Iraq and Afghanistan for Bush and his evil lies.

55,000+ of the 140,000 American soldiers are suffering from PTSD. Stress disorder has increased and the percentage is now around 40%.

Over 350,000+ Iraqis have been killed in Iraq since Bush declared shock and awe bombings on March 19, 2003.

Contamination from depleted uranium may have affected 125,000+ American soldiers and several million Iraqis.

Are you feeling more safe and secure with Bush in the WH and Cheney as his chief hatchet man overseeing Nazi America and her citizens?

Our military men and women are used as cannon fodder for a terrorist Nazi American government.

Our enemies are innovative and resourceful and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, AND NEITHER DO WE. George W. Bush, August 5, 2005

Rigged elections doom American democracy. American soldiers are being killed and maimed TO PROMOTE A NAZI AMERICAN STATE.

Henry Kissinger says that military men are just dumb stupid animals to be used as pawns in foreign policy.

Nazi America is a mirror image of Hitler Bush.

Nazi Americans continually justify sin.

Nazi Americans are accomplices with Bush for his murders and war crimes.

Mark of Disgrace

When Fear Consumes the Mighty

America Uses Superman to Promote its Fascist Agenda

Hajji at #10:

Sadly, the Tim you address is yet another "Tim" of the conservative mindset (which I applaud BTW)

Anyway, I have been working my tail off these many months since I've posted. Conversing here has become a luxury...

Anyway, the missus is still going strong on the Sears yard tractor! I just got through overhaulin the beast a few weeks ago and she loves it the best (next to yours truly, of course!)

How did you know she's a hottie, hmmmmm?

We Are All Forrest Gumps

More humor from the Grand Ol' Spending Party:
* The pixies are here
* The story is here

Gotta love the imMoral Values crowd.

If you want to get down to the raw bone of the matter, check out Billmon, it boils down to Good Treason and Bad Treason. Asking the Conservatives to be consistent is like asking their Congressional reps to turn down a bribe... ain't gonna happen.

And speaking of the bribe-takers, the Federal mongoose is closing in on Ney. The rats are swimming and the ship is going bottom up.

If you want to see how the clodhoppers on the right are letting their idiocy show in Academia, check out these goobers at the Univeristy of Incarnate Word here in San Antonio.

And check out the govt. in Pakistan, they have a Western American-style government:
"Pakistan's parliament chooses the president, but it is unclear if that vote will occur before or after the legislative elections."

"Musharraf's ruling Pakistan Muslim League has indicated it may call for the presidential vote to be held before the parliamentary polls, apparently to guarantee the general another term."

Condi's pissing off the puppets.

And it looks like the rightwing blogs could use a little viagra right about now. Legal viagra, that is.

Afghanistan Slides Away

Haven't had access to a computer for a few days, and didn't know if you had been discussing the song and the motion picture from whence it came.
Posted by: factchecker at June 30, 2006 10:38 AM

What is a smart, friendly and neighborly post is diminished by the lie that initiated it. Not having access to a computer does not keep one from knowing what has been discussed. Establishing 'the fact' that you have not been on this blog for a few days seems far more important a motive than explaining your point of view reagarding the song. I say to you: "Be honest." It works better that way. You can build trust. Trust is a firm foundation.

some of the UN resolutions that israel is in defiance of:

*Resolution 106: " . . . 'condemns' Israel for Gaza raid".
*Resolution 111: " . . . 'condemns' Israel for raid on Syria that killed fifty-six people".
*Resolution 127: " . . . 'recommends' Israel suspends it's 'no-man's zone' in Jerusalem".
*Resolution 162: " . . . 'urges' Israel to comply with UN decisions".
*Resolution 171: " . . . determines flagrant violations' by Israel in its attack on Syria".
*Resolution 228: " . . . 'censures' Israel for its attack on Samu in the West Bank, then under Jordanian control".
*Resolution 237: " . . . 'urges' Israel to allow return of new 1967 Palestinian refugees".
*Resolution 248: " . . . 'condemns' Israel for its massive attack on Karameh in Jordan".
*Resolution 250: " . . . 'calls' on Israel to refrain from holding military parade in Jerusalem".
*Resolution 251: " . . . 'deeply deplores' Israeli military parade in Jerusalem in defiance of Resolution 250".
*Resolution 252: " . . . 'declares invalid' Israel's acts to unify Jerusalem as Jewish capital".
*Resolution 256: " . . . 'condemns' Israeli raids on Jordan as 'flagrant violation".
*Resolution 259: " . . . 'deplores' Israel's refusal to accept UN mission to probe occupation".
*Resolution 262: " . . . 'condemns' Israel for attack on Beirut airport".
*Resolution 265: " . . . 'condemns' Israel for air attacks for Salt in Jordan".
*Resolution 267: " . . . 'censures' Israel for administrative acts to change the status of Jerusalem".
*Resolution 270: " . . . 'condemns' Israel for air attacks on villages in southern Lebanon".
*Resolution 271: " . . . 'condemns' Israel's failure to obey UN resolutions on Jerusalem".
*Resolution 279: " . . . 'demands' withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon".
*Resolution 280: " . . . 'condemns' Israeli's attacks against Lebanon".
*Resolution 285: " . . . 'demands' immediate Israeli withdrawal form Lebanon".
*Resolution 298: " . . . 'deplores' Israel's changing of the status of Jerusalem".
*Resolution 313: " . . . 'demands' that Israel stop attacks against Lebanon".
*Resolution 316: " . . . 'condemns' Israel for repeated attacks on Lebanon".
*Resolution 317: " . . . 'deplores' Israel's refusal to release Arabs abducted in Lebanon".
*Resolution 332: " . . . 'condemns' Israel's repeated attacks against Lebanon".
*Resolution 337: " . . . 'condemns' Israel for violating Lebanon's sovereignty".
*Resolution 347: " . . . 'condemns' Israeli attacks on Lebanon".
*Resolution 425: " . . . 'calls' on Israel to withdraw its forces from Lebanon".
*Resolution 427: " . . . 'calls' on Israel to complete its withdrawal from Lebanon.
*Resolution 444: " . . . 'deplores' Israel's lack of cooperation with UN peacekeeping forces".
*Resolution 446: " . . . 'determines' that Israeli settlements are a 'serious obstruction' to peace and calls on Israel to abide by the Fourth Geneva Convention".
*Resolution 450: " . . . 'calls' on Israel to stop attacking Lebanon".
*Resolution 452: " . . . 'calls' on Israel to cease building settlements in occupied territories".
*Resolution 465: " . . . 'deplores' Israel's settlements and asks all member states not to assist Israel's settlements program".
*Resolution 467: " . . . 'strongly deplores' Israel's military intervention in Lebanon".
*Resolution 468: " . . . 'calls' on Israel to rescind illegal expulsions of two Palestinian mayors and a judge and to facilitate their return".
*Resolution 469: " . . . 'strongly deplores' Israel's failure to observe the council's order not to deport Palestinians".
*Resolution 471: " . . . 'expresses deep concern' at Israel's failure to abide by the Fourth Geneva Convention".
*Resolution 476: " . . . 'reiterates' that Israel's claim to Jerusalem are 'null and void'".
*Resolution 478: " . . . 'censures (Israel) in the strongest terms' for its claim to Jerusalem in its 'Basic Law'".
*Resolution 484: " . . . 'declares it imperative' that Israel re-admit two deported Palestinian mayors".
*Resolution 487: " . . . 'strongly condemns' Israel for its attack on Iraq's nuclear facility".
*Resolution 497: " . . . 'decides' that Israel's annexation of Syria's Golan Heights is 'null and void' and demands that Israel rescinds its decision forthwith".
*Resolution 498: " . . . 'calls' on Israel to withdraw from Lebanon".
*Resolution 501: " . . . 'calls' on Israel to stop attacks against Lebanon and withdraw its troops".
*Resolution 509: " . . . 'demands' that Israel withdraw its forces forthwith and unconditionally from Lebanon".
*Resolution 515: " . . . 'demands' that Israel lift its siege of Beirut and allow food supplies to be brought in".
*Resolution 517: " . . . 'censures' Israel for failing to obey UN resolutions and demands that Israel withdraw its forces from Lebanon".
*Resolution 518: " . . . 'demands' that Israel cooperate fully with UN forces in Lebanon".
*Resolution 520: " . . . 'condemns' Israel's attack into West Beirut".
*Resolution 573: " . . . 'condemns' Israel 'vigorously' for bombing Tunisia in attack on PLO headquarters.
*Resolution 587: " . . . 'takes note' of previous calls on Israel to withdraw its forces from Lebanon and urges all parties to withdraw".
*Resolution 592: " . . . 'strongly deplores' the killing of Palestinian students at Bir Zeit University by Israeli troops".
*Resolution 605: " . . . 'strongly deplores' Israel's policies and practices denying the human rights of Palestinians.
*Resolution 607: " . . . 'calls' on Israel not to deport Palestinians and strongly requests it to abide by the Fourth Geneva Convention.
*Resolution 608: " . . . 'deeply regrets' that Israel has defied the United Nations and deported Palestinian civilians".
*Resolution 636: " . . . 'deeply regrets' Israeli deportation of Palestinian civilians.
*Resolution 641: " . . . 'deplores' Israel's continuing deportation of Palestinians.
*Resolution 672: " . . . 'condemns' Israel for violence against Palestinians at the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount.
*Resolution 673: " . . . 'deplores' Israel's refusal to cooperate with the United Nations.
*Resolution 681: " . . . 'deplores' Israel's resumption of the deportation of Palestinians.
*Resolution 694: " . . . 'deplores' Israel's deportation of Palestinians and calls on it to ensure their safe and immediate return.
*Resolution 726: " . . . 'strongly condemns' Israel's deportation of Palestinians.
*Resolution 799: ". . . 'strongly condemns' Israel's deportation of 413 Palestinians and calls for their immediate return.
------------
poor persecuted israel always the victim

178 TB. It think you're right on the money when you say it served the administration's designs to create a second class of 'prisoners of war' which does not have the same rights that prisoner's of war are entitled to under treaties negotiated by US presidents and ratified by Congress.

While we are in a War on Terror, our prisoners are not prisoners of war, they are Enemy Combatents and as such, once captured, they can be tortured. I recognize the need for intelligence in this type of war but I am not, nor will I ever be, willing to condone torture.

The guy that wrote a lot of the legal theory John Yoo is on the faculty at Berkeley. WOW talk about academic freedom I'm all for it but WOW!

I call him Torture Yoo, see how Yoo like it.

SmirkingChimp.com deserves a daily look, as advertised, and today is especially a good look because the website has many good articles. Go for it!!!

"The Bridge on the River Kwai" was one of my favorite movies when I was growing up. My dad loved the movie. These men built the best bridge they could build just to blow it up. Wow.
They proved to the enemy that the could deliver the best and they proved to the enemy that they could take it away. Beautiful.

so. they ARE being tortured at gitmo.
GITMO: Torture U. courtesy of Torture Yoo.

192 HA--

What sickens me is that only encourages the torture(without doing it for intel, merely for disgusting pitiful spite and horror) of our soldiers who are only doing what they are told, not what the want to do.

It eliminates our ability to take the higher ground.

we don't do that kind of, er, er, er, crapola, we do, never mind--hey what's that behind the tree over there----------

Elections are stolen the old-fashioned way

There is no way the Democrats will regain any branch of the federal government in the twenty-first century. The carnage of the 2006 election signals the end of the Democrats as a viable party. The Dems are trying to hold on desperately to their small base and not lose any significant numbers in the House and Senate in 2006. Yet, the end of the party is in sight. Here are the five deadly reasons for the Democrats demise:

1. the old-fashion way of losing elections
2. rigged Nazi American elections
3. soccer mom
4. NASCAR dads
5. and they look too much like the Nazis. The Dems have no really identity.

May the Democrats rest in peace!

The Dems have no REAL identity.

Gerald--you have a very defeatist attitude. I prefer when you attempt to inspire than despair.

All is not lost, it is still, we the people, right?

At some funerals there is a beautiful song that is sung or played as people leave the church service. The title is On Angel's Wings. The time has come for the Democrats to go to heaven on Angel's Wings while the Nazi Party leads the devil incarnate nation and her people into hell.

#175
TB,
Democracy Now was interesting today. They had a show on GITMO. One of the guests, BARBARA OLSHANSKY, made things even more clear to me.

Yeah, that's true. We had about five minutes of elation before we heard about the proposed legislation. And that is true. I think Congress is going to be very cautious. I know that Senator Specter has said that he’≥ going to convene hearings of the judiciary committee, which didn't happen last time. It gives us an opportunity to have a role and to make clear what the ramifications are of everything that would happen.

And also, this decision makes clear that anything that comes out of this is bound by the Geneva Conventions. And for us at the Center for Constitutional Rights, that has been our rallying cry from the beginning, is that the law applies and that the Geneva Conventions -- we signed and ratified them. We helped make them in 1949. And they apply wherever we act. There’≥ no corner of the globe where people are unprotected, and that's what this court says. The next time you try and do something, you better look at these, you better look at the four Geneva Conventions. You’∂e got to look at Common Article 3. You can't create something out of whole cloth.

Guantanamo Attorney: The Supreme Court Ruling on Tribunals Proves "The Entire Structure of the War on Terror is Unlawful"

#199 Turdblossom, here are some answers for justice and peace in the world. We must break away from bushianity and its eight pillars - hatred, murders, torture, war crimes, corruption, decadence, greed, and lies.

The Formula

I am giving you a formula that I believe will bring about justice and peace. Actually, God has given me these ideas directly for a better world. You can accept what I say through Divine Providence or reject what I say. We are all given a free choice. The decision is yours alone.

1. Shalom translated means peace but it is more than peace. Shalom is God's vision of the world. It is God's dream that Shalom comes only to the inclusive embracing community that excludes no one.
2. In each of us there is a Jesus and a Hitler. We should always strive to bring out the Jesus in us.
3. Love is wanting the best for another person or persons.
4. Try to emulate Mother Teresa who saw in each human being the face of Jesus.
5. War is outmoded; no normal person chooses war over peace.
6. From James in the New Testament - Faith without deeds is worth nothing.
7. Practice your faith that believes in the true God. God wants us to love one another.
8. Read the Bible because it is God's love letter to us.
9. Read Mattie Stepanek's books on Heartsongs.
10. John Kerry says that it is not important for God to be on our side, what is important are we on God's side?
11. Read Matthew 25:31-46! When you do it to the least of my brethren, you do it for me.
12. Read Matthew 5:1-12! The beatitudes!
13. Read Luke 10:25-37! Who is my neighbor?
14. Read Luke 12:13-21! These verses warn us against greed.
15. Be aware of the Just War Theory! Are we in imminent danger?
16. Practice being a Conscientious Objector!
17. St. Ambrose says, "I shall pass this way but once, any good that I can do let me do it now, because I shall not pass this way again."
18. Totus Tuus means all yours. We are all God's children.
19. Paul Wellstone says that politics is not about power. Politics is not only about money. Politics is not about winning for the sake of winning. Politics is about the improvement of people's lives. It is about advancing the cause of peace and justice in our country and in the world. Politics is about doing well for people.
20. Mr. Bourn who built the Filoli Home and Gardens that is south of San Francisco says that we must fight for a just cause; we must love our fellow man; and we must live a good life.
21. When we recite the Lord's Prayer, we are acknowledging that God is the Father and we are all brothers and sisters.
22. The Cross is a sign of contradiction. It is not about death and hatred; it is about life and love.
23. St. Irenaeus says, "The glory of God is man fully alive." Man can only be fully alive when he loves God with his whole mind, body, and soul. And, when he loves his neighbor, as he loves himself.
24. Read the Psalms in the Bible because they offer us hope.
25. Love the poor and your life will be filled with sunlight and you will not fear the hour of death. St. Vincent DePaul, the first social worker

Many persons will have and will offer various formulas for justice and peace. The end result will center on whether or not we have love and mercy in our hearts. Justice and peace can never move forward unless we have a conversion of the heart.

Leo Buscaglia reminds us that the heart sees what the eyes fail to see. In life we may be called upon to see with our hearts. Our hearts must be filled with love and mercy.

The moral demise of a nation precedes the ultimate demise of a nation. America is in a state of moral demise because Americans do not believe in God. They have chosen the antichrist of money, nuclear weapons, and the words of Bush.

There was also a very interesting interview with a Dr. Miles from the U of MN who just wrote a book on the torture in the war on terror and the the role of medical personal.

Oath Betrayed: Torture, Medical Complicity, and the War on Terror

DR. STEVEN MILES: Yeah, this has been an ongoing story. Right after World War II, people were horrified by the role of physicians and nurses in the treatment of POWs in Germany and Japan. And so, this standard of docs emerged right after that and evolved through the World Medical Association, culminating in the Declaration of Tokyo. And it's progressively gotten more stringent, because of the fact that around 60% of torture victims report seeing a health professional involved in monitoring their interrogation, setting up how harsh the interrogation can be, and so forth. And these standards are well known.

Now, what's so interesting about the Defense Department analysis and the Department of Justice analysis of how to proceed with the abuse of prisoners is they don't make a single reference to any of this literature. In fact, they treat the medical personnel just like any other soldier, whereas medical personnel who are taking care of prisoners of war have a primary and exclusive obligation just to the health of the prisoners.

JUAN GONZALEZ: They're, in essence, functioning almost like lawyer would be in representing a soldier who is -- or a prisoner who is charged with a crime, that they have a particular direct responsibility to their patients.

DR. STEVEN MILES: Well, I think that's right. The other thing is that the U.S. government, the British government, the Israeli government and presumably the East bloc countries, as well, have all done extensive research on course of interrogation, and it doesn't work. It gets bad information. One military intelligence guy I was talking to in Iraq said that what we were doing was we were sending our soldiers out on these dangerous sorties because they were chasing wild-goose chases from information we obtained by torture.

And in the most egregious example, the bio-weapons collaboration between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda was information that came from a prisoner that we transported to Egypt and then tortured. He gave that information, and that became a key part of the rationale for the entire war on terror.

.....DR. STEVEN MILES: Right. The U.S. War Crimes Act is a fascinating law. It's very short. Go look it up on the web, anybody who's listening. What it says is this: not only have we endorsed Geneva as a treaty, okay, but in addition, we made it a federal crime for a U.S. government employee to violate Geneva. And so, it's not just a violation of international law, it's a violation of federal law.

Now what the Bush administration has been arguing is that the President's discretionary war-making powers allow him to set aside any law, besides our treaty obligations, which is an incredibly dangerous thing. And what this does is set the stage for domestic prosecution of U.S. officials for violating the War Crimes Act, but also in a really interesting case that was brought by the Center for Constitutional Rights against Rumsfeld in Germany, the German prosecutor declined to subpoena or indict Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld because it had not yet been shown that the U.S. courts would fail to do so. With this Supreme Court ruling, I think that the ground is cleared for asking whether or not the U.S. judicial system will rise to its responsibility and enforce the Geneva Accords.

JUAN GONZALEZ: You talk in your book that as you were reading these 35,000 pages of documents on the various mistreatment and torture of prisoners, that you yourself became transformed as you delved into these stories. Can talk about that a little?

DR. STEVEN MILES: Yeah, when I first saw these pictures from Abu Ghraib, the question was, җell, where were the docs?Ӡbecause docs and nurses are frontline human rights monitors. They're there when the Red Cross isn't. They can get into any part of the prison, and furthermore, even if they don't see the abuse, they see the signs of the abuse, and we are trained to find abuse when it's crafted to be indiscernible, okay, as a lot of abuse is.

And so I'm reading along, I'm just trying to understand why there was a failure of reporting, and all of sudden what I'm seeing is that the medical system is entirely integrated into the abuse, that there was a structure, there was an actual policy mechanism that can be seen for the delayed release of torture-related homicides, that there was an entire structure for culling patients medical records for information on their vulnerabilities, incorporating that into harsh, incursive interrogation plans, monitoring those plans, designing those plans with psychological insights to exploit the particular characteristics of Islamic men, and then monitoring the disintegration of these men, and feeding that back into the torture plans. It’≥ an amazing story. It was very discouraging to read. But in every country that’≥ fought torture, and Chile's a good example, the docs have played a key role in stopping it.

-------------------------
And there you have it. The Supreme Court has made it clear that the rights of the prisoners have been violated. And that the Geneva Conventions should have been followed. The congress has an obligation to follow the Geneva Convention also. To ignore them is breaking federal law.

#188
Pandemoniac,
It's phrases like good treason bad treason that cause me to think back to six years ago when the worst crime one could be accused of was to lie about a blow job. We were a better nation under that liar Clinton. We were more sound. We had direction.

LOL Robin Williams said Rush taking Viagra just makes him taller. You know, cause he's a walking 'prick'.

Jack-in-the-House
The house that Jack Abramoff built.

#188
Powerline down 33%.

Sweet.

US soldiers investigated in rape, murders in Iraq
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military is investigating whether U.S. soldiers raped an Iraqi woman and then killed her and three members of her family, including a child, south of Baghdad in March, officials said on Friday.

This sort of ugliness has probably been purpotrated in all wars throughout history. Only the wonders of the modern information age are bringing them out to the light of day. This is just another example of why we should be waging peace instead of war. Oh yeah, I forgot that's for treehugging commie libruls.

Eyes Opne

Mr Eyes Open, I agree 100%. I would never have killed someone after raping her. Tha's just not right!

#192
Yoo is a freak.

Yeah, that would be wrong. I never killed anybody after giving them a blow job in the oval office. I'd just send Laura a note that I'd be late for dinner, then me 'n the boys would... well, I'd still never kill anybody just for that.

LOL Robin Williams said Rush taking Viagra just makes him taller. You know, cause he's a walking 'prick'.

Alan

I want to be taller too!

Yoo is a freak and so is the guy who posted as Bill Clinton. What a stupid, inane statement.

Yoo is a lawyer that made a legal argument for his client. It seems every discipline is twisted by this chief executive. That he continues to do television and support this legalargument makes him an idealogue.

If you don't give Bush what he wants, you become the enemy. Bush lives in simple world. His need to trust his 'gut' betrays his fear and distrust of his own intellect.

Dubya, you got nuthin on me boy. I grew up in a trailer park, OK! Do you see where I'm coming from? The Chinese named a condom after me, damn it! Helen Thomas fantasizes about me still. She once told me she would be my Monica. I couldn't quite get past the false teeth part.

Well,
Obviously I've struck a nerve. The right is a little sensitive about their role in whole Clinton impeachment issue. When you compare what is going on now to what the Republicans inisted on prosecuting Clinton for you see how two faced and dishonest the Republicans really are.

Thanks troll for making it obvious.

Yoo is a freak and so is the guy who posted as Bill Clinton. What a stupid, inane statement.

jeanne

That dirty talk really turns me on!

I think Ms Jeanne is making me taller Alan. he he

Don't tell Hillary!

I've linked this site before, but it's worth another. It's kinda like the U.K.'s version of Frontline. You broadbanders should check it out.

The Dossier

Digby has written a good post about the JAG lawyer who represented Hamdan in the Gitmo SCOTUS case. He quotes Lt. Cmdr. Charles Swift from a Hardball interview:

MATTHEWS: What about the charge made recently, just a couple minutes ago by Kate O'Beirne of the "National Review," that people who fight us who are not in uniform, who do not represent countries who are party to the Geneva Convention shouldn't be free riders? They shouldn't get Geneva Convention treatment. They should be treated like thugs.

SWIFT: Well, you know, if you're looking at it from that way, we have a lot of criminals here in this country. And to prejudge anyone that we capture outside the country as a thug, why are we having a trial in the first place? We've already decided they were guilty.

What the Supreme Court said is you have the trial first, you use the procedures that are set up under international law, and then you decide whether they're a thug. You don't make the thug determination going in. [Digby's emphasis - and mine!]

Innocent until proven guilty? What a concept!

You know what they say, kids. Read the whole thing.

No, no, Don. According to the Red Queen (and Mr. Yoo) verdict first, trial afterwards. Don't you know we are living in Alice's Wonderland? Or in the year 1213? Or both?

Legal Expert: Congress Can’¥ Rubber Stamp Military Commissions Without Endangering U.S. Troops

Shortly after the Supreme Court issued its decision in the Hamdan case, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) went on television and said that all Congress needed to do was provide its "blessing" to Bush's procedures. Many others, especially critics of the decision, have echoed Graham's position.

Today, Georgetown Law Professor Carlos Vazquez explained that things aren't as simple as Graham and others would have you believe.

Vazquez said that Congress could pass a law authorizing the procedures ruled illegal by the court. But according to the court's decision, doing so would abrogate Common Article 3 of Geneva Conventions. This would have serious consequences because the Geneva Conventions provide essential protections to U.S. troops abroad.

Vazquez also noted that - contrary to some interpretations circulating in the blogosphere - the court did not find the Geneva Conventions were only relevant because they were incorporated into the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Even if you amend that law, Gevena still applies.

----------------
Wow, Graham is a judge. He must really want to make things be ok for the Bush administration. He's a military judge and he's putting bush and the adminstration before the welfare of the troops.

The 28th amendment to the constitution makes it illegal to burn the flag and simultaneously enjoins all of us as war criminals, but not married ones if we are the same sex.

The GOP sure simplifies things.

Congress has its head up its ass. They can't pass a law that does the same damage as Bush's tribunals. The court ruled that it violated international laws and the Geneva Conventions of War. Lindsay Graham is a penis, but McCain is the biggest prick because he should be the biggest critic of our torture and imprisonment policies and he lets it slide because he wants the GOP to "chose me next".

Geof01
#223
Very well put.

Blogs have trolls, chats have trolls. They spew rhetoric and try to incite, then they belittle anyone who responds.

Here is a hint.............STOP TALKING TO TROLLS.

It is exactly like feeding stray cats, they get fat and demanding.

I was pleased to hear that Emporer Shrub got his knuckles smacked, but I don't expect much good to come of this for the majority of detainees. Some will likely now be there longer.

Im a daughter of a Career Military man, I understand the need for these facilities, but when Dad was still alive the Geneva Convention, and The Uniform Code of Military Justice, still existed.

Indeed, what IS an enemy combatant, I think for Emporer Shrub, it is most likely the New York Times (at the moment).

I have been online for long enough to say with some conviction; Rove is ON THE NET. Not him in person, but people payed by him to occupy blogs and chats and to do exactly what the trolls are doing to anyone with an even remotely liberal view. And they are relentless. You can not make them shut up with logic and fact. You cannot make them understand truth. The best, and I think; only way to survive them is to ignore the hell out of them, let them talk to themselves.

Only respond to those you view as normal. Works for me.

Let them be.

Here are some indisputable facts. Hahaha all you pathetic libs and weirdos. You would rather see people get killed than allow YOUR president to protect you. You are so blind in your hatred for President Bush that you don't even know what is good for you. You are like a dog caught in a bear trap that would bite the one that tries to free him. You are too stupid for your own safety. You blame America when evil people harm the innocent and you blame America when we try to eliminate the evil. You whine like children. You are the sorest LOSERS ever. You will never get back Congress because voters are smarter than you. You put your personal desires (gay sex, abortion, affirmative racism) before the safety of our own people. First you make America weaker and then you cry and blame those who tried to protect us when we get attacked. You attack those who protect you and champion those who would do you harm. You are quite literally insane. You don't deserve to be in my country. GET OUT!!

It is interesting that this ruling from the Supreme Court has brought out the cheering section on both the left and right in some instances. I have said it once, I will probably say it again, anyone who believes in the rule of law probably believes in fairy tales also.

Essentially, there would be no fighting of what judge enters what seat if the law was set in stone. This goes for those who point out "activist" judges as well as those who cry out about the maintainence of a smothering status quo.

The Bush administration has been kind enough to lift the curtain on the "rule of law," which is merely the carry over from the divine right of kings. Today we do not have ruling monarchs that show their self-interest openly in a ruling, we have an elite which hide behind an equal farce called the rule of law. The only reason why we have consistent ruling is by WHO is sitting there, because the same use of the law can bring equal and opposite conclusions.

What the Supreme Court did in this ruling, echoed in Stevens majority ruling, was to preserve the ruse of the rule of law. Have to keep the peasants satisfied you know.

This ruling did NOT say they HAD to use procedure, it just said they would have to accomplish their goals in other ways - i.e., one of two ways or both. They will go to Congress to maintain their unjust courts, for a ruling - because this mess cannot see the light of day in a real trial with fairness, they would have to release almost everyone. Second, I predict the majority will be released in other countries. All the majority of these detainee's are there for, or were there for, was to fan the flames of the war on terrorism.

You should have know this when we found out that torture was was being employed. The only reason why despots throughout history have applied torture for is twofold - to get confessions to bolster their positions, because everyone knows a tortured individual wll confess to anything after a period of time; second, to put fear in a group, country, or region, by saying that those who use torture are a depraved lot and don't mess with the - using fear for advantage in a most gross form.

So you go ahead and believe what you want, make up a cheerleading team for this pittance. Remember, in a unique way this president is the Supreme Court's baby. There are times when you just have to maintain apperances, like the "rule of law," and that's ALL that happened in this instance - period.