The Nation on the impending court martial of First Lieut. Ehren Watada
7 JulWatada, the War and the Law
Jeremy Brecher & Brendan Smith in The Nation (web only)
On July 5 the US Army brought charges against First Lieut. Ehren Watada, an infantry officer stationed at Fort Lewis, Washington, who has refused to deploy to Iraq with his unit because he believes the war there is illegal. Watada faces up to eight years in jail and a dishonorable discharge. But in trying the 28-year-old officer, the Army is really putting itself, the Iraq War and the Bush Administration on trial.
Voting Rights Act Reauthorization
6 JulFrom PFAW:
Defying the odds and the will of the American people, a small, but vocal group in the House of Representatives managed to stage a revolt and have the Voting Rights Act Reauthorization (H.R. 9) pulled from the House floor.
We cannot let this small band of ultra-conservative House members succeed in holding up reauthorization of this landmark civil rights legislation. That’s why People For the American Way has launched an emergency petition to tell House Leadership to pass the bill immediately.
Please sign the petition now to tell Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert and Majority Leader John Boehner to stand up to the right wing’s stalling tactics and let the VRA bill pass!
FMA, again
6 JulFederal Discrimination Marriage Amendment, yet again…
This abomination is being used, once again, to try to rally the ultra-conservatives to prevent the expected (and in my case, welcomed) Democratic take-over of Congress. The Republicans are just running scared.
Send a postcard to Congress here and let them know you don’t approve of the FMA.
Stop the war on contraception
6 JulI just found out about this from Planned Parenthood:
Throughout the country, at both the federal and state levels, there has been a frontal assault on virtually all forms of reproductive health care, from abortion to birth control, from emergency contraception to sex education.
Interesting analysis of Hamdan v. Rumsfeld
3 JulThe significance of Hamdan v. Rumsfeld by Glenn Greenwald
States Mr. Greenwald: For the past 10 years, I was a litigator in NYC specializing in First Amendment challenges, civil rights cases, and corporate and securities fraud matters. I am the author of the New York Times Best-Selling book, How Would A Patriot Act?, a critique of the Bush administration’s use of executive power, released May, 2006.
Excerpt from the actual analysis:
Nonetheless, opponents of monarchical power should celebrate this decision. It has been some time since real limits were placed on the Bush administration in the area of national security. The rejection of the President’s claims to unlimited authority with regard to how Al Qaeda prisoners are treated is extraordinary and encouraging by any measure. The decision is an important step towards re-establishing the principle that there are three co-equal branches of government and that the threat of terrorism does not justify radical departures from the principles of government on which our country was founded.
There are several other salient points made, regarding how the current regime could go about ignoring this (by making legislative changes), as well as what this means for the central defense offered to date to support the illegal wiretapping and surveillance schemes. Well worth the read.
In addition, it looks like I have found yet another book I need to read. (And to try and find it in a library near you, click here.)
An Aging Trans Woman 