Yearly archives: 2007

Did Oprah Ruin It For Obama?

December 19, 2007
Democratic NewsElectionsRant
0 Comment

Did Oprah ruin it for Obama?

I wondered that this evening after I heard a friend remark that Oprah had brought the wrong kind of attention to Obama’s campaign.  Too many people see Oprah as “Hollywood” or removed from the real world, and Obama should not have accepted her help on the campaign trail, according to my friend.  He was also concerned that Oprah turned Obama into “the Black candidate”, where before Barack had succeeded in defining himself simply as a candidate.  The concern is that far too many whites will recoil now from Barack because he’s identifying too closely with Oprah.

Election politics always turn my stomach.

Meanwhile, as of today’s writing, John Edwards leads in Iowa — without Oprah.

Cheney On Fire

December 19, 2007
RepublicansWhite House
0 Comment

I know, it’s too easy.

The Washington Post reports:

A two-alarm fire broke out on the White House grounds Wednesday morning, sending 1,000 federal workers scurrying for safety and damaging Vice President Dick Cheney’s ceremonial suite in the historic Eisenhower Executive Office Building across the street from the West Wing.

Mr. Cheney was not there when the fire started about 9:15 a.m.; he and President Bush were in the White House Situation Room for an intelligence briefing. The two were informed of the blaze when they returned to the Oval Office, and later went outside together to shake the hands of firefighters who had responded.

And later:

The building’s centerpiece is the second-floor ceremonial office of the vice president, with two Belgian black marble fireplaces and wooden floors designed in a geometric pattern of mahogany, white maple and cherry. The office was used by 16 secretaries of the Navy beginning in 1879. In 1929, after a Christmas Eve fire damaged the West Wing, President Herbert Hoover moved in.

It’s too easy. Cheney was burning old CIA tapes. Cheney was incinerating files. Cheney was cleaning house, setting fire to all the “real” tapes out of Guantanamo.

The conspiracy theorist in me really believes that Dick just had someone torch the joint.  But the realist knows somewhere inside that the fire started for other reasons.

Or did it?

It’s far too easy.

What Can Boy George Say Now?

December 8, 2007
LegalPhilosophicalRepublicansWhite House
0 Comment

So the President had no idea that the CIA had these torture-tapes? Really?

According to Dana Perino, the President “has no recollection” that he ever saw these tapes:

Q Thanks. On these CIA videotapes, did either the President or Vice President or Condoleezza Rice, when she was National Security Advisor, or Steve Hadley, see them before they were destroyed?

MS. PERINO: I spoke to the President, and so I will have to defer on the others. But I spoke to the President this morning about this. He has no recollection of being made aware of the tapes or their destruction before yesterday. He was briefed by General Hayden yesterday morning. And as to the others, I’ll have to — I’ll refer you to the Vice President’s office and I’ll see if I can get the others.

Q Was there any White House involvement in approving or commenting upon their destruction?

MS. PERINO: As I said, the President has no recollection knowing about the tapes or about their destruction, and so I can’t answer the follow up.

Perino darts the question as to whether the President would support an investigation. Then, we get Good Ol’ Boy George once again. Is this President embarrassed? Is this President angry at CIA Chief General Hayden? Not Boy George:

Q Dana, is this something that you would characterize the President’s feeling about — is this something that’s sort of seen as understandable, or is this something that you’re embarrassed about?

MS. PERINO: I would say that the President supports General Hayden. General Hayden made a statement yesterday to his employees in which he said that the decision was made by the agency, it was made in consultation with the agency’s lawyers. And he said — and I quote — that “the tapes posed a serious security risk and were they ever to leak, they would permit identification of your CIA colleagues who had served in the program, exposing them and their families to retaliation from al Qaeda and its sympathizers.”

He has complete confidence in General Hayden and he has asked White House Counsel’s Office, as I said, who is already in communication with the CIA General Counsel as the CIA Director continues to gather facts. As you know, General Hayden wasn’t there at this time, either.

The President has “complete confidence in General Hayden.” Of course! Wait for it.  You know it’s coming… “You’re doing a heckuva job, Haydie!”

Now let’s see if Congress has any at all. Senator Dick Durbin has called for the Justice Department to investigate. Full-steam ahead with that one.

Huckabee’s AIDS Problem

December 8, 2007
Anti-ScienceElectionsRepublicans
0 Comment

Mike Huckabee really has issues with AIDS. According to the Associated Press, Huckabee wanted to isolate AIDS patients, according to a 1992 questionnaire he filled out when running for the U.S. Senate.

Huckabee on Huckabee:

Huckabee answered 229 questions submitted to him by The Associated Press. Besides a quarantine, Huckabee suggested that Hollywood celebrities fund AIDS research from their own pockets, rather than federal health agencies.

“If the federal government is truly serious about doing something with the AIDS virus, we need to take steps that would isolate the carriers of this plague,” Huckabee wrote.

“It is difficult to understand the public policy towards AIDS. It is the first time in the history of civilization in which the carriers of a genuine plague have not been isolated from the general population, and in which this deadly disease for which there is no cure is being treated as a civil rights issue instead of the true health crisis it represents.”

In 1992, it was common knowledge that AIDS could not be spread by casual contact, the article continues.

And then there was this little gem as well:

Also in the wide-ranging AP questionnaire in 1992, Huckabee said, “I feel homosexuality is an aberrant, unnatural, and sinful lifestyle, and we now know it can pose a dangerous public health risk.”

The man has flip-flopped considerably on this issue since then.  He now claims that his administration, “will be the first to have an overarching strategy for dealing with HIV and AIDS here in the United States, with a partnership between the public and private sectors that will provide necessary financing and a realistic path toward our goals.”

We can only wonder what that strategy would be.  And hope we never find out.

If any Republicans are reading, consider how a President Huckabee would treat your gay son or daughter.

Can Anybody Really Touch the C.I.A.?

December 8, 2007
CongressConstitutionLegalWhite House
0 Comment

I have to admit this one makes me worry. I’ve always had the idea — no doubt based on superstition and fear — that the C.I.A. was untouchable. I mean, who could possibly go after the C.I.A., really?

So the old chaps were destroying tapes. Takes me back to the 70s, it does.

According to the latest in the NYTimes.com:

White House and Justice Department officials, along with senior members of Congress, advised the Central Intelligence Agency in 2003 against a plan to destroy hundreds of hours of videotapes showing the interrogations of two operatives of Al Qaeda, government officials said Friday.

This one really has me worried. I don’t recall anyone ever really successfully going after the C.I.A. Have you? They really worry me. I’m convinced they operate outside of any laws we know of. Therefore, I want to see Congress really go after them … that is, if Congress is still working for us.

Today’s Washington Post says President Bush (All Praise His Holy Name) was unaware of these tapes, but was aware in some fashion:

The White House said that President Bush was unaware of the tapes or their destruction until this week, but administration sources acknowledged last night that longtime Bush aide Harriet E. Miers knew of the tapes’ existence and told CIA officials that she opposed their destruction.

So, somebody knew something, but we’re not quite sure who knew what, and we’re pretty certain the President knew nothing.

That sounds about right.

The real question is, “Does Congress have any balls to go after this?”

Really, that is what should be our concern.

Are we simply going to listen to Harry Reid ramble on about generalities? Or will someone attempt to really find out what happened here?

Listen: I really hope this is the “Land of the Free,” and “Home of the Brave.” I don’t want to go to sleep thinking that this is really the “Land Ruled By The C.I.A.” and “The Men In Black,” whoever the Hell they are.

“Give me liberty,” or something….

The End of America – Possible, Says Naomi Wolf

November 24, 2007
ConstitutionElectionsGeneralIraqLegalPhilosophicalRepublicansStrange
0 Comment

Don Hazen has an interview with Naomi Wolf on AlterNet regarding her new book, The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot.  In it, she warns that history may indeed repeat itself.

When discussing the Bush Administration, it’s easy to glibly toss around names like “Hitler” and “Mussolini”, and throw in a word like “fascism”, but Wolf raises some alarming concerns about the future of our democracy.

What exactly was going on when Hitler and Mussolini were coming to power?  Are there any comparisons with what is happening in America today, and has been for the past several years?

Wolf does not see much hope for a transparency in the next Presidential election:

We would be naive given the historical patterns to have hope that there’s going to be a transparent, accountable election in 2008. There are various ways the blueprint indicates how events are much more likely to play out. Historically, the months leading up to the national election are likely to be unstable.

What classically happens is either there will be a period of provocation, and we have a history of this in the United States — agitators who are dressed as or act like activist voter registration workers, anti-war marchers … but who engage in actual violence, torch property, assault police officers. And that scares people. People are much less likely to vote for change when they’re scared, and it gives them the excuse to crack down.

In addition, I’m concerned about the 2007 Defense Authorization Act, which makes it much easier for the president to declare martial law.

What are the plans for 2008?  Lower gas prices, and heightened terrorist threat alerts?  Martial Law in the United States?

Is Facebook violating the law?

November 9, 2007
Legal
0 Comment

Interesting question arising in the state of New York.  A new add-on to Facebook allows users to send ads to other users with pictures attached.  The legal question is, are these so-called “Social Ads” illegal, or violations of privacy?

That seems like a funny question to ask on a Social Networking site, but it is worthy of consideration.  Facebook users do agree to certain terms and conditions.  However, does that translate to a loss of all privacy?  And what if the user is a minor?

The New York Times quotes William McGeveran, a professor at the University of Minnesota Law School, who quotes the law in a blog post:

One who appropriates to his own use or benefit the name or likeness of another is subject to liability to the other for an invasion of his privacy.

The NYTimes post says Chris Kelly, chief privacy officer for Facebook, called and said McGeveran’s interpretation is too broad.  But McGeveran writes:

I don’t see how broad general consent to share one’s information translates into the specific written consent necessary for advertisers to use one’s name (and often picture) under this law. And the introduction of Facebook’s sales pitch about the program to advertisers leaves little doubt that individual users’ identities will be appropriated for the benefit of Facebook and advertisers alike.

I have a suspicion that Facebook will win this bout in the short term, but there will be a backlash as people begin to realize how precious privacy is.  Some Facebook users put much personal information online.  How long until we realize we’ve given up too much?

And rest assured that Facebook users are taking notice.  One user already created a group to protest: “Facebook’s Social Ads Are Illegal.”

At this writing, the group had one member.

Everyone else was probably busy updating their status.

Hilarious George W. Bush Imitation

October 29, 2007
Humor
0 Comment

Genarlow Wilson Free

October 26, 2007
ConstitutionGeneral
0 Comment

Genarlow Wilson was finally freed from prison today.  He spent two years in prison.  The incredible injustice this young man endured notwithstanding, he actually sounded gracious and grateful to finally be released from prison.  Reporters attempted to bait him into saying that he was bitter, but he would have none of it.  He was grinning from ear to ear.

I find it incredible that anyone would lose two years of his life because of consensual sex — especially when the partners are only two years apart.

There was more to the story, of course.  These kids made the incredible mistake of videotaping their encounter at the party.

I wish Mr. Wilson the best.  Prison is no place to grow up.  But Wilson looked like he succeeded in doing just that.

Sitting Down with Lance Corporal Brian Wiley, USMC

October 9, 2007
General
0 Comment

Lance Corporal Brian Wiley has served two tours in Iraq. At 21 years of age, he’s seen more pain and violence than most see in a lifetime. He is prepared to serve again.

read more | digg story