Sept. 15: “Countdown” host Keith Olbermann talks to Newsweek’s Howard Fineman about President Bush’s speech defending his proposed terror laws.
Olbermann on the reason Bush wants to redefine Geneva Conventions (MSN Video)
Sept. 15: “Countdown” host Keith Olbermann talks to Jonathan Turley, Constitutional law professor at George Washington University, about the legality of Bush’s proposed terror laws.
Once again, the amazing Brad Hicks has said something that needs to be heard, and in a very cogent manner.
Burying the Lede Again: It’s Not about the DEFINITION of Torture
I would also refer you to where I discussed this very same thing earlier this month.
Link to Brad courtesy velvetpage
Court ruling a blow to pride of King George
With apologies to the makers of the 1994 film, it’s never been ”the madness of King George” that troubled me.
No, it was the arrogance, a hubris so awesome and awful you tended to forget George is not, in fact, a king but a president. One might have been forgiven for forgetting, since President George W. Bush has governed pretty much as a King George would have: by fiat and decree.
Continue reading
The 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.)
. . . For three years, Administration lawyers have argued that the Geneva Conventions don’t apply to its “war on terror”. That argument is finished. . . .
A President Rebuked by Bruce Shapiro in The Nation
I, said O’Connor, am against judicial reforms driven by nakedly partisan reasoning. Pointing to the experiences of developing countries and former communist countries where interference with an independent judiciary has allowed dictatorship to flourish, O’Connor said we must be ever-vigilant against those who would strongarm the judiciary into adopting their preferred policies. It takes a lot of degeneration before a country falls into dictatorship, she said, but we should avoid these ends by avoiding these beginnings.
See this related op-ed piece in the Houston Chronicle.
O’Connor did the country a service by lending her stature to a warning against reckless threats upon the judiciary. As a private citizen with unique credibility, she owes something more. She should make public a transcript of her comments and detail her concerns so more Americans can hear them. The time for discreet silence has passed.
Another state tries to pass abortion ban
A Mississippi House committee approved a ban on abortions Tuesday, allowing an exception only in cases where the mother’s health is endangered.
The bill, which heads to the full House for a vote, makes Mississippi the second state in the nation to consider an abortion ban.
See earlier LJ entry about S. Dakota here.
And so it begins.
S. Dakota legislature passes abortion ban, which would punish doctors who perform the operation with a five-year prison term and a $5,000 fine. It awaits the signature of Republican Gov. Michael Rounds and people on both sides of the issue say he is unlikely to veto it.
And yes, it’s clear, to me at least, this is intended to get to the Supreme Court to give that court the opportunity to overthrow Roe v. Wade.
Panel sends Alito nomination to full Senate
With ten Republicans voting yes and eight Democrats voting no, the committee sent the nomination to the 100-member Senate. The full chamber is to begin debate on Wednesday, with a confirmation vote as early as the end of this week.
Now more than ever, it is critical that you make your voice heard.
An Aging Trans Woman 