This was posted in The Village, the shopping neighborhood between Rice University and West University Place,
late last year. Is this some iconic popular character I simply don't recognize?
No, I don't mean a
court case
about habeas corpus for Gitmo detainees; I'm referring to that marvelously funny lady on our side of
the political spectrum,
Mad Kane.
Mad has broken her wrist, but that has slowed her down only a little bit in her mission of heaping hilarious
opprobrium on Bush and, especially lately, McLame. Go wish her well!
(Aside to Mad: let me emphasize again... don't reply! let your wrist heal!)
Ft. Worth Star-Telegram columnist
Bud Kennedy
emphasizes the unhappiness among rank-and-file Texas GOPers that McCain is skipping the Texas GOP Convention,
choosing instead to arrive next Monday for a round of fundraising:
HOUSTON -- John McCain is ignoring 7,000 Texas Republicans this weekend.
Some of them are returning the favor.
Instead of speaking to the state party convention this weekend, McCain will come to Texas on Monday to raise
money at a Dallas barbecue.
"Where is he?" asked Sara Fischer, 31, of Mansfield, brushing past a volunteer futilely trying to pass out
McCain lapel stickers.
"I didn't support McCain," she said. "But I have to now. He's our candidate. It seems like he should be here."
Inside the exhibit hall, the McCain T-shirts at one souvenir stand were marked down from $15 to $8 -- two for
$15.
...
I guess one could say that McCain is being discounted.
Welcome to second-class status, Texas GOPers. Democrats here have experienced this before; that's how I learned
to despise Donna Brazile in the days before the so-called "fifty-state strategy." The message to Texans is
simple: "give us money, then shut the fuck up and disappear." Oh, and Texas GOPers, one more thing: McCain is
ignoring your convention, ignoring your state-level candidates' need for his presence, because he is an utter
failure as a human being. Think of what he would be like as president.
... who died today at age 58,
at work, of an apparent heart attack. (Later info: the cause is now uncertain; an autopsy is being performed.)
Sincere condolences to his family, including his very elderly father. For what it's worth, I am stunned. Some
things are beyond politics; Russert's passing is one of those things for me. I can scarcely imagine an election
season without his active input.
Fifty-eight seems far too young for someone so lively and involved to die. Perhaps that's because I am 59, and
the reminder is hard to take. Perhaps it is mere celebrity cultism on my part; his death is not intrinsically
more meaningful than anyone else's. But it feels as if all of us, his admirers and detractors alike, have lost
something important.
May he rest in peace. The news will never be the same without him.
(Link went defunct; replaced with a working one. - SB)
Not the thirteenth cat (though there are certainly
households
with approximately that many cats), but rather the thirteenth day of the month:
Tabitha is doing considerably better, and as a consequence, so is Stella. Tabitha was energetic enough this
evening to resist her treatment, with real strength and quite a voice. Never have we been so happy to have a cat
complain at us and struggle against us!
The Supreme Court has ruled 5-4 that detainees held in Guantanamo have a constitutional right... not merely a
right under federal law, which was repealed by Congress... to appear in U.S. civilian courts to challenge their
detention. In other words, the detainees have habeas corpus privilege.
Crooks and Liars
has the details, including an MSNBC video segment.
I bookmarked
this CNet news blog post
over a month ago and neglected to post on it, but the issue is so important that I believe it still deserves
posting even though it is not current:
May 7, 2008 3:47 PM PDT FBI rescinds secret order for Internet Archive records
Posted by Anne Broache ...
The FBI has backed down on a secret request for information about a user of the Internet Archive digital
library, thanks to a legal challenge from two prominent advocacy groups.
The case, which was brought by the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union on
behalf of the archive, dates to last year but only became public on Wednesday. That's because the type of
request involved, known as a national security letter (NSL), is accompanied by a gag order that forbids the
recipient from disclosing its existence or discussing it with anyone except his attorneys, who are also gagged.
As a result of a settlement, the FBI agreed to withdraw the national security letter and to lift the gag order.
The 2001 Patriot Act and its subsequent reauthorization dramatically expanded the FBI's ability to use NSLs,
which do not require a court order and are supposed to be used only in investigations related to terrorism.
Investigators are able to use the tactic to obtain customer records and logs from Internet service providers,
telephone companies, financial institutions, but Congress in 2006 imposed limits on the FBI's ability to use
NSLs on libraries. The EFF said this is the first known case to challenge an NSL served upon a library since
those legal changes took effect.
...
So... in the very first challenge to an NSL served on a library, the FBI backed down. To me, that says that the
FBI knows it would lose such a challenge.
Let's face it: NSLs are unconstitutional. At a minimum, they violate the Fourth Amendment. At worst, they are
a means of implementing a police state. I leave it to you to determine the FBI's motivation for acting in a way
that avoids a challenge of these un-American legal instruments.
Bill Moyers speaks to
FreePress's
National Conference on Media Reform. The speech is brought to us by Democracy Now! Moyers names names and
networks, pulling no punches in his indictment of today's corporate-owned and wealth-dominated media for the
relentless damage such faux journalism does to democracy. Skip past the news segment that opens the broadcast if
you like, but be sure to watch the concluding segment in which Moyers is ambushed after the speech by Bill
O'Reilly's producer... you'll learn the meaning of the saying, "never send [a child] to do [an adult's] job."
Via AMERICAblog,
here's a Daily Mail article about John McCain's first wife...
the one he dumped for Cindy because she (the first wife) was seriously injured in an auto accident. The story is
every bit as charming as
Newt Gingrich's tale,
and, considering the long-time Republican political emphasis on their alleged devotion to the family as an
essential American institution, deserves a lot of attention in the coming months.
Alternet
summarizes Hedges's speech ("America's Democratic Collapse") that follows in the same post:
Note: Chris Hedges gave this keynote address on Wednesday, May 28, in Furman University's Younts Conference
Center. The address was part of protests by faculty and students over the South Carolina college's decision to
invite George W. Bush to give the May 31 commencement address.
When it was announced in May that Bush would deliver the commencement address, 222 students and faculty signed
and posted on the school's Web site a statement titled "We Object." The statement cites the war in Iraq and the
administration's "obstructing progress on reducing greenhouse gases while favoring billions in tax breaks and
subsidies to oil companies that are earning record profits."
"We are ashamed of the actions of this administration. The war in Iraq has cost the lives of over 4,000 brave
and honorable U.S. military personnel," the statement read. "Because we love this country and the ideals it
stands for, we accept our civic responsibility to speak out against these actions that violate American values."
The speech, though long, is worth reading. It is difficult for me to understand why any university would choose
GeeDubya as its commencement speaker in these times; apparently, many faculty members and students at Furman
felt the same way. But Hedges delivered a speech much broader in scope, an evaluation of what is happening to
America. Check it out.
GREENVILLE, S.C. — President Bush called Saturday for a new “culture of responsibility,” and he told students
they would never find fulfillment in “alcohol, drugs or promiscuity.”
...
Right. No one ever found fulfillment in those things, certainly no young, robust college student, especially a
C student on his way to the preznitcy.
<snark />
Fair warning: this post contains a controversial opinion; it may even lose me some friends.
In a bit more than an hour, Clinton will concede the nomination to Obama. Already, some Clinton supporters are
saying they cannot or will not vote for Obama. In my opinion, that would be the height of folly. Not only will
Clinton herself advise her backers to support Obama, but everyone who gives a damn about the things Clinton so
passionately advocates must surely acknowledge that Obama comes far closer to Clinton's positions than McCain
does... far closer.*
When I was 25, I probably would have felt the same way. Voting was a personal thing, and my vote was for the
candidate about whom I felt most strongly. Now, at the end of almost six decades of hard experience, I pursue
voting as a strategic matter, and my vote is determined almost entirely by what I perceive to be the larger
outcome, the consequences of the election in the broader context. If that vote happens to coincide with my
personal preference for a candidate, that's nice... but my personal preference is not the determining factor in
my vote. And I will argue that your personal preference should not be dispositive of your vote, either. Voting
is, first and foremost, a civic duty, not a vehicle for personal satisfaction.
One popular song a few years ago said, "If I can't have you, I don't want nobody." Such an approach is, of
course, utter folly in real life: if I can't have you, someone else will have to do, and there's no point in
whining about it. Thus it is with candidates for high office. In the race for the Democratic nomination, someone
inevitably had to win, and someone had to lose. This time, the contest was between the first credible woman
candidate for president, and the first credible African American candidate for president; it was inevitable that
feelings would run high on behalf of both candidates. Obama won. Hillary lost. In the Texas two-step, I voted
and caucused for Hillary. Should I now sit home in November because she didn't win the nomination? Specifically,
should I sit home, given the consequences of a McCain presidency? Emphatically, NO!
If you are a former Hillary supporter like me, I urge you to think of your country first: vote for Barack Obama.
*Someone mentioned a possible third-party candidate. Don't get me started.
Stella uses this greeting card as a sign near the door of the bathroom containing the cat box, to remind
apartment maintenance people not to leave the door closed when they depart. Yes, it's true: I posted this
because I have a fondness for bathroom humor of all sorts.
Like most of us when we have a respiratory infection, Tabitha can't smell her food as well as usual, so Stella
heats it in the microwave to intensify the smell and improve Tabitha's appetite. Mmm-mmm good! (Not for humans.)
Tabitha is going to the vet tomorrow for a nebulizer treatment, but her breathing is not as raspy-sounding as
it was, and she gets around a bit better; e.g., soon after this shot, she descended to the floor under her own
power. And apparently she leaps onto chairs and the sofa without assistance during the day, unless Samantha is
secretly helping her. Stella voiced the opinion tonight that Tabitha's malady seems more likely due to a stroke
than a tumor, and based on her improvement, I tend to agree. The vet, who is excellent, is not willing to say
yet which it is. Hey, she's the one with DVM (or whatever) after her name...
Come to think of it, "campaining" is just about the right term for it to this point. And while the Maori
mask really is a legitimate cultural artifact related to a story about Obama (NOT on Fox News), I can't
help thinking its use here in a context in which the visual reference to American blackface minstrel shows is
unmistakable is a deliberate slur by whoever composed the post. What do you think?
Off-topic, Tabitha is doing a tiny bit better, and will be featured in cat blogging this week.
Report: Bush Administration Negotiating ‘Secret Plan’ To Keep Troops In Iraq ‘Indefinitely’»
Today, the UK Independent has a troubling report on a “secret plan” for U.S. occupation in Iraq allegedly being
pushed by the Bush administration:
A secret deal being negotiated in Baghdad would perpetuate the American military occupation of Iraq
indefinitely, regardless of the outcome of the US presidential election in November.
The terms of the impending deal, details of which have been leaked to The Independent, are likely to have an
explosive political effect in Iraq. Iraqi officials fear that the accord, under which US troops would occupy
permanent bases, conduct military operations, arrest Iraqis and enjoy immunity from Iraqi law, will
destabilise Iraq’s position in the Middle East and lay the basis for unending conflict in their country.
This strategic framework seems even stronger than one reported by UK Guardian in April, which was described as
“temporary”
and said that the United States “does not desire permanent bases or a permanent military presence in
Iraq.”
From the beginning of this election cycle, I have pledged to support the Democratic nominee. It is now clear
that Barack Obama will be that nominee, and for all my reservations about the nominating process to this point,
he is a most impressive candidate, and I support him wholeheartedly.
I am not a single-issue voter, but for family and personal reasons, my primary issue this year is healthcare.
No issue affects me personally, no issue has affected my family over the past two decades, more than healthcare
coverage. For that reason, I initially supported John Edwards until he withdrew. Then, in the Texas primary, I
voted for and caucused for Hillary, largely because of her announced healthcare policy. Many pixels have been
spilled over the differences between Obama's and Hillary's plans, but it seems to me they have become more
similar over the course of the campaign, and
Obama's policy
is vastly better than McSame's policy: McLame's advice may well be expressed as "be born into a wealthy family
which additionally has had lifetime government-paid health care coverage."
So we're ready for the battle. Now if Hillary would just admit that she has lost...
(Post title amended for clarity after initial posting.)
Tabitha has acquired some sort of upper respiratory infection, not a good thing for a cat in her condition.
Stella is awaiting a call from the vet. While Stella is at work, I'm sitting with Tabitha most of the time.
This post will float to the top for a while. For continuity, the comment thread from the earlier post about
Tabitha is attached to this post.
My parents' generation fought in a world war to prevent the Axis powers from inflicting on the world the very
sort of thing the U.S. is now perpetrating.
Via Fallenmonk,
from the Guardian:
The United States is operating "floating prisons" to house those arrested in its war on terror, according to
human rights lawyers, who claim there has been an attempt to conceal the numbers and whereabouts of detainees.
Details of ships where detainees have been held and sites allegedly being used in countries across the world
have been compiled as the debate over detention without trial intensifies on both sides of the Atlantic. The US
government was yesterday urged to list the names and whereabouts of all those detained.
...
It goes almost without saying that these are not legitimate prisoners of war. Such prisoners would be held
publicly, their identities known, and their conditions of captivity open to inspection.
...
Information about the operation of prison ships has emerged through a number of sources, including statements
from the US military, the Council of Europe and related parliamentary bodies, and the testimonies of prisoners.
The analysis, due to be published this year by the human rights organisation Reprieve, also claims there have
been more than 200 new cases of rendition since 2006, when President George Bush declared that the practice
had stopped.
It is the use of ships to detain prisoners, however, that is raising fresh concern and demands for inquiries in
Britain and the US.
According to research carried out by Reprieve, the US may have used as many as 17 ships as "floating prisons"
since 2001. Detainees are interrogated aboard the vessels and then rendered to other, often undisclosed,
locations, it is claimed.
...
Reprieve will raise particular concerns over the activities of the USS Ashland and the time it spent off Somalia
in early 2007 conducting maritime security operations in an effort to capture al-Qaida terrorists.
At this time many people were abducted by Somali, Kenyan and Ethiopian forces in a systematic operation
involving regular interrogations by individuals believed to be members of the FBI and CIA. Ultimately more
than 100 individuals were "disappeared" to prisons in locations including Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti and
Guantánamo Bay.
...
If you are an American citizen, and you are not ashamed of this activity, you must have skipped all the history
and civics classes in which you were taught the ways in which this country is supposed to be better than that.
Our founders are surely turning in their graves.
Glenn Greenwald
tells us how Michael Goldfarb of the Weekly Standard, newly appointed deputy communications director of the
McCain campaign, responded in a conference call with former Senator George Mitchell on the latter's proposed
timetable for withdrawal from Iraq, about a president's powers. Here's Goldfarb:
Mitchell's less than persuasive answer [to whether withdrawal timetables "somehow infringe on the president's
powers as commander in chief?"]: "Congress is a coequal branch of government...the framers did not want to have
one branch in charge of the government."
True enough, but they sought an energetic executive with near dictatorial power in pursuing foreign
policy and war. So no, the Constitution does not put Congress on an equal footing with the executive in matters
of national security.
McCain's deputy communications director believes a president has "near dictatorial power." Please compare with
Bush's
"so long as I'm the dictator"
quote. Will anyone in the mainstream press or media ask McCain about Goldfarb's concept of the Executive? I'm
not holding my breath.
HaloScan is operating at no more than 20 percent capacity today. I have turned it off, to avoid delaying YDD
page loading. If you need to leave a comment, you may use the ALTERNATE COMMENT LINK FOR THIS PAGE
at the top of the page, just above my name. This location is temporary; please do not write your magnum opus there.
UPDATE: I've added a link to the same "bulk" comments popup (i.e., one popup
serves all blog posts on this page) from the place one usually finds the comment link on each post. It's crude,
but better than nothing. This post will float to the top for a while.
UPDATE: Regard this as an open thread. I'd be interested in what people think of
the DNC RBC's ruling on Michigan and Florida.
UPDATE Monday morning: things may be working again... maybe.
Stella's cat Tabitha, in treatment for a possible stroke, now occasionally purrs and sometimes even meows. She
is slightly steadier on her feet, and perhaps not quite as weak, but still has difficulty getting up and down.
She still has to be fed by hand. She is receiving the same daily treatments as before. Sometimes she still
wanders the apartment and settles herself with her nose in a corner, or against a wall, or in a piece of
furniture. We are still waiting to see how much progress she makes.
This has been a report from the vice president of the Tabitha Fan Club. Stay tuned for further reports.
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Some very recent posts may be included in their entirety.
Saturday Signs
So do women. I've heard them.
(For what it's worth, a Target security guard politely complained that "you can't take pictures in the store."
Rather than pointing out his semantic error, I just said I wouldn't take any more.)
As Tabitha is indisposed to be photographed in her current condition, here's a rare appearance by Catherine's
"other" cat, Mitchell:
Unlike Lotus, but like Catherine's other cats over the years, almost all of whom were shelter cats or adopted
strays, Mitchell is his own unique self, not a product of human-directed breeding. He is very serious by nature
and tends to avoid strangers, but otherwise is confident that he doesn't need any fancy pedigree or ribbons. In
this picture he emerges from seclusion for a few minutes of bird-watching at eye level through a second-story
window.
Better the occasional faults of a government that lives
in a spirit of charity than the constant omissions of a
government frozen in the ice of its own indifference.
- FDR
I belong to the Democratic Party wing of the Democratic Party.
- Paul Wellstone
I am a Democrat without prefix, without suffix, and without apology.
- Sam Rayburn
Stella uses this greeting card as a sign near the door of the bathroom containing the cat box, to remind
apartment maintenance people not to leave the door closed when they depart. Yes, it's true: I posted this
because I have a fondness for bathroom humor of all sorts.
