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The Bush administration continues in its downward spiral, its ultimate, grisly end now hastened by the charges of domestic spying by the National Security Agency.

According to news reports, the Bush administration authorized the NSA to conduct wiretaps of hundreds if not thousands of American citizen’s phone and email conversations within the United States – all without warrants.

Such warrantless wiretaps are prohibited under the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution, where it provides that:

“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

The courts have held that “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects…” includes the right to have their communications protected from eavesdropping, except where the state, upon providing a showing of probable cause, has secured a warrant from a court.
Acting on the excesses of the Nixon years and the Watergate era, congress passed the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) in 1978 to further regulate domestic spying.

Under that Act, the FBI and NSA may conduct warrantless domestic wiretaps of foreign nationals only. Wiretaps and searches of US citizen’s person and property may be conducted only after securing a warrant from a secret FISA court.

The Bush administration has defended the warrantless wiretaps, asserting that such extraordinary measures are necessary because of the war on terrorism, and further, that such broad authority was granted by congress when it authorized the war in Iraq.

Continue reading “Bush Meltdown Continues”

The movement to immediately end the war in Iraq gained an unlikely spokesman last week: John Murtha, longtime Congressman from Pennsylvania, a ranking member of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. A consistent hawk for the 33 years he’s spent in congress, Murtha is a decorated combat veteran with a Bronze Star, two Purple Hearts and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry. Murtha, who retired from the Marine Corps as a Colonel, served in both Korea and Viet Nam.

Murtha, who supported the war in Iraq initially, proposed a bill Thursday to immediately withdraw all American troops from Iraq.

According to Congressman Murtha, “The war in Iraq is not going as advertised. It is a flawed policy wrapped in illusion. The American public is way ahead of us. The United States and coalition troops have done all they can in Iraq, but it is time for a change in direction. Our military is suffering. The future of our country is at risk. We cannot continue on the present course. It is evident that continued military action in Iraq is not in the best interest of the United States of America, the Iraqi people or the Persian Gulf Region…”

“Our military has done everything that has been asked of them, the U.S. can not accomplish anything further in Iraq militarily. IT IS TIME TO BRING THEM HOME.”

Murtha’s plan called for:

1) To immediately redeploy U.S. troops consistent with the safety of U.S. forces.

2) To create a quick reaction force in the region.

3) To create an over- the-horizon presence of Marines.

4) To diplomatically pursue security and stability in Iraq
The proposal drew an extreme amount of heat in the House chambers.

Continue reading “John Murtha: An American Hero”

I was watching Meet The Press on NBC this morning.

Tim Russert was interviewing Orin Hatch and Charles Schumer, talking about possible appointments to the Supreme Court.

Everything was going along great, and then Russert asked Hatch about the possibility of “non-judicial” appointments – that is, making an appointment of a person who was not a judge to the court.

Hatch picked it right up. He said something to the effect that the necessity of appointing judges to the judiciary was overblown. All that was necessary, really, was to appoint someone “who knew what was going on,” and that a great deal of such qualified people existed.

“Perhaps even within the Senate?” asked Russert.

Hatch agreed.

Then Russert asked, “Perhaps you? Would you accept if the President offered it?”

All puffed up and looking extremely regal, Hatch shrugged and said something to the effect no one could refuse something like that.

Then they moved on.

Conventional wisdom has shifted, I see. Based on this, apparently all you need to be a Supreme Court Justice is to “know what’s going on.” You don’t need to be a lawyer, much less a judge.

Now that does make sense.

I mean really, when you think about it, why would you want to know about the law, just to be a Justice? Why confuse the issue with facts? Wouldn’t it be much easier to make a good decision with a fresh mind uncluttered with all those stodgy, confusing details – like precedents, case law, legal history, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, all those lawyerly sort of confusing, icky, awful things?

So true!

And aren’t lawyers really to blame for all the ills of our society? Sure they are.
Yup, I’m with Shakespeare: “Let’s kill all the lawyers!” Let’s make it so no lawyer is ever appointed as a judge again!

Hmm… I’m guessing that Hatch was floating a trial balloon for the Bush administration on this issue – seeing what kind of support or opposition for the idea existed.

Well I think it’s a great idea, myself.

Based on that, I’d like to put out my own nominees for Supreme Court Justice:

Tim Eyman – Obviously Tim “knows what’s going on.” A champion of the people (while lining his own pockets), Tim would be great for the job. A consummate liar, he has no judicial knowledge whatsoever, no scruples, no morals, and is basically available to the highest bidder.

Dan Quayle – Who better than the former Vice president to be a Justice? Dan boy was a Senator for years and years, and then VP under the Big Bush. He has an intimate knowledge of Washington, so he must “know what’s going on.” So what if he has an IQ of 46? That’s at least 10 points higher than Dubya, and look how he’s doing! Quayle would be an “everyman’s” Justice. He can probably get someone to check his spelling when he writes all those silly opinions…

Jeb Bush – Hey, why not? Dubya’s brother “knows what’s going on” better than almost anyone! Look at what he did on the awful Terri Schiavo case. It was obvious that Terri Schiavo was alive and well and getting ready to make an appearance on Jeopardy when she was ruthlessly killed by her husband. She wasn’t even brain dead! No way. She was just playing possum and Jeb boy knew it! And then look how statesman-like he was when he went to Thailand to help all those poor heathens whose homes were destroyed by the wrath of God (From what he said, if they’d just been smart and accepted Christ as their Savior, the big wave woulda never hit – heathens are such dummies!).

Pat Robertson – Now Pat’s been part of the Washington political process for years and years and years. Who better than him would “know what’s going on?” His presence on the Court would be like a breath of fresh air. We could get rid of all those silly things, like Roe v. Wade, Miranda, the Bill of Rights – all that trash. And isn’t it about time we had a state religion? You know, “…One nation, under one God, with liberty and justice for just about everybody…”

George Herbert Walker Bush – Dubya? Yeah, sure! He can appoint himself! Who says you can’t serve as President AND Supreme Court Justice at the same time? Think of the money we’d save by combining the positions. And after he changes those silly rules about presidential term limits, he can swear himself in – and like Idi Amin, be President for Life!

Who would you like to see as Justice?

Terri Schiavo Should Be Allowed To Die

Bush the Savior
There you are, and the worst happens: your wife dies after a sudden heart attack.

Somehow, you get through the surreal nightmare of the funeral and all the rest, and begin the grieving process.

Several years down the road, if you’re lucky, your life has more or less returned to normal.

But not for Michael Schiavo. For him, the nightmare has continued for all of the last fifteen years.

As a side-effect of bulimia in February 1990, Terri Schiavo suffered a heart attack and sustained severe non-reversible brain damage as a result of prolonged oxygen deprivation during resuscitation.

The doctor’s diagnosis was that she was in a persistent vegetative state, with no hope of rehabilitation. She had almost no cerebral cortex left – it’s just gone, apparently as a result of the heart attack and oxygen deprivation. She could not feed herself; she had to wear diapers. She was, for all intents and purposes, “brain dead.” She had no cognitive abilities left; she was not self-aware.

Michael Schiavo disregarded the doctor’s advice and retained some hope she could get better. Against all odds, for the next eight years, different rehabilitation therapies were tried – but all to no avail.

So then after eight long years of torture, finally convinced his wife was truly not coming back, Michael Schiavo reluctantly petitioned the court to have her feeding tube taken out – allowing Terri to finish the process of dying.
But Terri’s parents opposed this in court, and she was kept alive, against the wishes of her husband.

And the un-ending nightmare for Michael Schiavo continues.
Terri remains today in the persistent vegetative state she entered fifteen years ago, with no improvements at all. Nothing has changed from 1990. The doctors all agree that barring divine intervention, there is no hope whatsoever for any recovery.

But her parents, the Schindlers, persist in their mindless quest to keep her body alive.

This is so sad.

I really and truly feel sorry for the Schindlers. I can understand the pain they are suffering; no parent wants to see their child die. It’s inconceivable a child should predecease a parent.

Continue reading “Have You No Shame, Mr. Bush?”

Bush and an advisor in a stratgey session.

Looks like we’ll soon be headed into Iran.

The hysteria about possible nukes in the hands of the Iranians has been building and building in the past few weeks.

The Bush administration has been making a much more subtle case than they did with Iraq – drawing the “bad” news out slowly, trying to shape public opinion, making it so the public can only make one conclusion: that Iran has nuclear weapons and it’s the United States’ job to go in there and disarm them – to save the world from the Iranian menace.

Bush, a true schizophrenic, in one breath termed the idea of invading Iraq “ridiculous,” and then flatly stated the US was “keeping all options open.”
Talk about mixed messages.

One small problem with all this: can you say WMD? In the words of President Ronald Reagan, “There they go again!”

Continue reading “Next Stop Tehran? ver 1.1”

Washington Governor’s Race

At right, Dino Rossi, at Today’s Press Conference

Dino Rossi continues to plunge boldly ahead, working towards his dream of becoming Governor of Washington state.

Too bad it’s all just in his mind.
Although they won’t admit it, Republicans lost bigtime when Chelan County Superior Court Judge John Bridges, ruled that he had no power to order a revote.

The ruling means that if Bridges does eventually set aside the election, his possible options could then include either declaring the office vacant – which would mean Lt. Gov. Brad Owen could take over as interim Governor – or, Bridges could declare Rossi governor.

Those options are, however, a long shot, and the Republicans know it. The standard of proof in getting the election results tossed out is very high. It’s unlikely that the Republicans have enough evidence to sway the judge.
At a news conference today, Rossi downplayed the ruling, saying that if the Judge vacated the election results and appointed him Governor, he would not take the office, but would instead ask the legislature to call a special election.

Continue reading “The Race That Would Not Die”

Washington State Governor’s Race

The Saga Continues

In an election fraught with problems and strife, now new charges of impropriety have come to light.

The dead have spoken, seemingly, and their clear choice for governor is Christine Gregoire.

According to the King County elections manager, as many as 22 dead people voted in the election last November. These cases are under investigation and criminal charges may be filed in at least three of the instances.

That tidbit, problems with provisional ballots and also the fact that King County may have had several thousand more votes than actual registered voters all has the state Republicans throwing a hissy fit.

Continue reading “Dawn of the Dead”

Washington Governor’s Race

So Dino Rossi wants a new election?

Give me a break!

This guy has obviously been spending way too much time with Chris Vance (who is a world-class moron).

Take note, Dino: There is no legitimate basis whatsoever for a new election. None, zero, zip. The election is over, and you lost! And that is all she wrote.
It’s hard to imagine how the Republicans think they could justify a new election. Perhaps they’ve been smoking something?

Stop the madness, Dino, and concede the election now!