Ponies & Pachyderms

So the descriptions were right, he really is Scalito

2006-07-01T14:26:00.000-06:00

It's good to be posting back on P&P. There are so many stories to choose from. How about Rush Limbaugh and Viagra and Bill O'Reilly's belief that the police are out to get Rush? No Spin Zone my ass...

Instead I think the more interesting event is the Supreme Court's decision on military commisions because new Justice Alito voted happily with Justices Thomas and Scalia thus proving the moniker Scalito. You see Scalia and Thomas are nutjobs on the Court imo, and before the addition of Alito, they frequently were the lone two dissenting in many cases. It's too bad Roberts had to abstain from the case because it would have been interesting to see how he would have voted. This would give a solid indication of how the Court has changed.

Of course, the other interesting aspect of this case is the Court limiting executive power, but you can check the link for that.

"I'm and American. I'm sorry"
-Al Bundy

mapping out mid-terms 2006

2006-06-25T11:56:00.000-06:00

United States Senate 2006 Election Map:

██ Republican incumbent

██ Retiring Republican

██ Democratic incumbent

██ Retiring Democrat

██ Retiring Independent

██ States without a seat up for re-election

United States Gubernatorial 2006 Election Map:

██ Republican incumbent

██ Retiring Republican

██ Democratic incumbent

██ Retiring Democrat

██ States without a seat up for re-election

Planned Parenthood v. South Dakota: Deathroes of a Blog

2006-03-07T17:54:00.000-07:00

It is with great pleasure that I see if this little blog can be somehow revived and as the resident Court Watcher, I think we have the makings of a massive change in American Civil Liberty law worth noting.

Yesterday you see, the Governor of South Dakota, Mike Rounds, signed a bill into law banning all abortions in South Dakota unless the mother's health is in danger. There are no exceptions for victims of incest and no exceptions for victims of rape. While pro-life advocates are no doubt cheering, Planned Parenthood has already said it will fight the law.

This will go all the way to the Supreme Court, a significantly different Supreme Court of one year ago. With newly appointed Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito, one can reasonably assume that the South Dakota legislature believed that they can withstand a court challenge.

Now, my impression of John Roberts is of a man who respects law, due process and precedent. I would be very surprised to see him uphold the South Dakota law and in the process overturn over 30 years of legal tradition held in Roe v. Wade (1972).

Alito of course is a different animal.

Regardless, we will soon see how 'conservative' this Court really is.

We will get clue when they review partial birth abortions which they recently said they will review.

The Year in Preview

2006-01-03T18:09:00.000-07:00

2005 was an interesting year for American politics. History will show it to be the year that the cracks started to show in the Bush administration and yet the Democratic Party remained in as much discord as it ever has. Despite having the most incompetent presidency since Andrew Johnson on the ropes the entire last third of the year, the Democrats managed to tripped and fell just like President Johnson did. Here are my predictions for 2006 in American Politics.

People Most Likely To Lose Their Jobs in 2006: Andrew Card Jr., Scott McLellan, Donald Rumsfeld, Karl Rove. If none of these clowns are fired in 2006, Bush is literally as out of touch with reality as Reagan was in the late years. I don’t mean the late years of his time as president.
Most Likely To Become Secretary of the Treasury: Andrew Card Jr.
Death of 2006: Gerald Ford
Most Likely Exchange to be Heard at a Congressional Hearing in 2006:

Senator: Mr. President, how can you justify using executive powers to completely penetrate the civil liberties of Americans?
Bush (or a proxy): Extraordinary circumstances.
Senator: No… seriously.
Bush: Fuck you, bitch. I’m untouchable. Q-E-D! *poll bump*
Democrat Who’s Hype Will Peak: Hillary Clinton. Hillary is not going to run for President. Why doesn’t she come out and say it? And does she really think she can win? Only Oprah can win.
Most Likely To Continue to Draw Man-Love From Postmaster-General and Chris-face: Special Prosecutor Scott Fitzgerald
Superstar Democrat in 2006: Joe Biden. Homeboy has been a Senator for 33 years! More than half his life! He will be the Democratic Nominee in 2008. Look for Viginia Governor Mark Warner to begin quietly fundraising for a 2007 Senate run.
Superstar Republican in 2006: Why, John McCain, of course. Watch for McCain to continue to run all over Bush and the Inner Circle in retaliation for the ‘McCain has a Black Baby’ stunt. Campaign finance, the PATRIOT Act and the War in/on Iraq will be John McCain’s bread and butter this year. John McCain is the Chuck Norris of politics.
Hallmark Moment of the 2006: Bush’s Approval Rating falling below the floor of Nixon’s.
Senate Composition As A Result Of The 2006 Midterms: R: 49 D: 51
House Composition As A Result Of The 2006 Midterms: R: 219 D: 215 I: 1
Most Likely to Ask US Troops to Leave in 2006: A silly and naive new Iraqi Parliament. A good follow up to that might be “Most Likely To Run Away So Fast That They Leave A Cloud Shaped In Their Likeness Suspended In The Air: The Bush Administration.”
Most Likely to be Seen Coming Off A Plane Right Around September 2006: American Troops from Iraq. Completely caving to public pressure and begging from the RNC, it looks like troops are coming home in time to be the centre of political attention for the Midterm elections.
Supreme Court Issue of the 2006: NSA Wiretaps. Too many constructionists on the court to hold that one up. Bush will stick by it because he really has nothing better to do.
Political Issue of 2006: Iraq. Casualties will hit 2500 before the Midterms. Everyone is going to want to divest themselves from any Iraq related decisions that might be made. The economy could make some noise if those from one side of the income canyon start screaming at their (much) richer counterparts on the other side.
Issue That Will Further Polarize Normal Americans in 2006: The Death Penalty. This debate faded from the public with Tookie Williams’ last breath, which is extraordinary and surprising since the issue was so hotly contested before he was executed. However, this issue will come up in the next month with a vengeance when the results of the DNA tests done in the case of Roger Keith Coleman, who was executed in 1992. It will be surprising to see what form the debate takes if it is scientifically proven that Coleman is innocent.

Tammy Kitzmiller et al. v. Dover Area School District

2005-12-20T13:01:00.000-07:00

T. rex
T. rex—the real king of the beasts. That’s the terror that Adam’s sin unleashed! You’ll run into this monster lurking near Adam and Eve. How’s this possible? Find out soon!

The Court in Pennsylvania have spoken and 'intelligent design' will no longer be mentioned in the science classroom. Why? The Court ruled that ID is religous belief and to introduce it into public schools is the state attempting to establish religion. Moreover, the Court determined that ID is not science.

The history of ID is very interesting and really forms the foundation of the ruling as they tied ID to fundamentalism. They suggested that religous fundamentalism arose when Darwin's theory came about. Over time, they tried to repackage creationism as creationism science by purposefully introducing scientific terms into their beliefs. CS was rejected by the Courts as well. This inevitably lead to ID. The tie between fundamentalism and ID is clear according to the Court and as such should not be taught in public schools.

In developing the ruling the court used the Lemon Test

Ahh the First Amendment.... I think it might be my favorite.

BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURN!

2005-12-15T16:00:00.000-07:00

Apparently, Iraqi Security Forces don't get decks of cards. Good timing on this one. I bet Dick Cheney would have loved to have gone after him with a pair of pliers and a blowtorch.

It's About Time

2005-12-14T11:00:00.000-07:00

Finally!

Bush admits that there was faulty intelligence in the decision to go to war.

Though, apparently, it was still the right decision because Hussein was a bad man. Now while I recognize the apparent weakness of the United nations in dealing with Iraq and blame Bush's father for the history leading up to the war, I think you need more to justify an invasion in light of 'faulty' intelligence to the American people.

William Jefferson Clinton comes North!

2005-12-13T21:07:00.000-07:00

This information was found its way under my door this morning via brown paper envelope:

630 CHED is excited to announce an amazing event coming to Edmonton in 2006.

630 CHED is proud to present Canadian American Relations with Former President Bill Clinton - March 9th at Rexall Place. Spend an evening with Former President Bill Clinton as he discusses various issues facing our world today including the critical issues that affect the Canadian-American relationship.

Thursday, March 9th

Rexall Place

Ticket prices: $75 to $200 plus applicable charges

Tickets go on sale to the public at 10:00am on Friday, December 16th at all Ticketmaster locations, charge by phone at 451-8000 or on line at ticketmaster.ca.

Keep listening to the 630 CHED Morning News for your chance to win tickets this week and next week.

Brought to you by CTV, the Edmonton Journal and 630 CHED.

ONLY 630 CHED INSIDER MEMBERS CAN BUY TICKETS TO THIS EVENT BEFORE THEY GO ON SALE TO THE PUBLIC! The presale dates for CHED Insiders are from Wednesday, December 14th at 10:00am until Friday, December 16th at 10:00am!!

Go to ticketmaster.ca to order your tickets in advance for Canadian American Relations with Former President Bill Clinton.

Please use the password PRESIDENT when purchasing tickets for Canadian American Relations with Former President Bill Clinton.

-Secretary of Voyeuristic Intentions

So...um...yeah....

2005-12-07T12:09:00.000-07:00

I would like to joke about this, but I don't know if it's funny.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2005/12/07/VI2005120700493.html

Sigh.

jury duty

2005-12-01T16:58:00.000-07:00

The president's been summoned to serve on a jury back home in Crawford, Texas.

I checked, and Crawford's a few counties over from Travis County where Tom DeLay was indicted; so, sadly, no chance Bush's been summoned for that one, though presumably he'd get an easy out on account of knowing the accused.

One wonders what his excuse will be for dereliction of this Texas duty?

-interlocutor

Maybe Scalito Is an apt name

2005-11-30T16:22:00.000-07:00

Seems like Justice Alito schemed as a lawyer on how to confront Roe v. Wade without directly confronting it. According to CBS News, a memof rom the eighties shows that Alito, figured the best way to challenge Roe was by building mini-victories against abortion that would eventually make it easy to overturn Roe's precedent or to systematically eliminate the right over time.

How will the enate react to this obvious question of Alito's judicial biases?

'bought media'

2005-11-30T13:09:00.000-07:00

The LA Times is reporting the Pentagon has been paying local Iraqi media to run fluff stories prepared by the US military:

Many of the articles are presented in the Iraqi press as unbiased news accounts written and reported by independent journalists. The stories trumpet the work of U.S. and Iraqi troops, denounce insurgents and tout U.S.-led efforts to rebuild the country.

Though the articles are basically factual, they present only one side of events and omit information that might reflect poorly on the U.S. or Iraqi governments, officials said. Records and interviews indicate that the U.S. has paid Iraqi newspapers to run dozens of such articles, with headlines such as "Iraqis Insist on Living Despite Terrorism," since the effort began this year.

I take it freedom of the press isn't a key component of 'democracy on the march.'

-interlocutor

BOO!

2005-11-28T14:48:00.000-07:00

- SOV

woeful disregard and such

2005-11-27T10:00:00.000-07:00

Talk about your winning of hearts and minds!

A certain latin pederast from a certain Coen Bro's film offered this applicable bon mot: 'This is bush league psyche-out stuff. Laughable, man - ha ha!'

-interlocutor

Happy Turkey Day!

2005-11-24T13:35:00.000-07:00

-S.O.V.

Another saucy Downing Street memo

2005-11-23T14:56:00.000-07:00

The story is that Bush apparently suggested in a conversation with Tony Blair that he ought to bomb al-Jazeera, allegedly in reprisal for airing messages from al-Qaeda and other deeds deemed counter to the cause. Variously, it has been dismissed as a joke — "sounds like one of the president's one-liners" a senior Washington diplomat is quoted as saying to the Washington Post. Elsewhere in the story, the Post offers:

a senior U.S. intelligence official said that it was clear the White House saw al-Jazeera as a problem, but that although the CIA's clandestine service came up with plans to counteract it, such as planting people on its staff, it never received permission to proceed. 'Bombing in Qatar was never contemplated,' the former official said.

Weird deja vue, from a certain other seemingly endless and unwinnable war: bombing in Cambodia was also never contemplated — publicly. But it happened. Maybe that was just a joke too...

Side note: even though it's all just a romp, the Brits are moving to prosecute bureaucrats and journalists responsible for disseminating these official (and, apparently, 'hilarious') state secrets.

-Interlocutor

John McCain is a smart fella

2005-11-22T19:15:00.000-07:00

Besides being my personal Republican hero, John McCain is a pretty wise guy. Doing some research on campaign finance, I came across an article about McCain from 2002. If every American politican had the integrity of John McCain, the US would be a really fantastic place to live.

Republicans are angry with John McCain, the senator whose campaign for the Republican presidential nomination nearly derailed George W. Bush in the primaries last year.

The Washington Post spread the word earlier this month that at the regular weekly luncheon for the 49 senators, McCain arrived early and was left by his colleagues to dine alone.

McCain laughed off the story. "Where we dine, you can't dine alone. There aren't enough seats," he said in an interview with The Sunday Times.

"But are some of my colleagues mad at me for ranting at them? Yes, they are."

If they don't want to get mad, he added, they should stop giving him cause to criticize them by wasting taxpayers' money and indulging in the worst kind of pork-barrel politics.

McCain, 64, has emerged as the discomfiting conscience of the Republican party in an era of spectacular party fundraising. Washington under Bush is swilling with cash.

"There's far too much money washing around this town," said McCain. "History shows that if there's too much money, you get corruption and that leads to scandals."

The Republicans have enjoyed a fundraising bonanza since Bush took office, breaking all records in a non-election year. The Republican national committee has raised almost $50 million, the congressional committee almost $39 million and the senate fundraising committee almost $25 million.

The Democrats, spurred on by gaining control of the Senate in May after the defection of James Jeffords from the Republicans, are also living high on the hog.

McCain insists that the explosion of funds is no cause for rejoicing: "I have no doubt it corrupts the system. When someone buys a ticket to a fundraiser for $500,000, as happened last October, that person then deserves and gets access, which leads to influence."

John McCain: 2
Tom Delay & Bill Frist: 0

-Chris-face

New York, New York

2005-11-22T17:54:00.000-07:00

With New York Governor George Pataki chosing not to seek a fourth-term as Governor of the Empire State, both the Dems and Gops are preparing for battle.

In the Democratic corner, it looks like Attorney General Eliot Spitzer is the front-runner in a race which is rumoured to include Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi. Interestingly enough, due a quirk in NY electoral law, Spitzer has already won the nomination for the left-wing Working Families Party, which is a sometime king-maker in NY politics.

The Republican race is looking like a showdown between NY Secretary of State Randy Daniels, and former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld. Other potential candidates are rumoured to be former Congressmen Rick Lazio and John Sweeney.

With the latest polls from Siena College showing Eliot Spitzer with 64% compared to Bill Weld's 16%, we may be looking at a Democratic landslide in New York's 2006 Gubernatorial election.

-Sec of Voy.

Bush pardons turkey, ironically contracts avian flu

2005-11-22T14:57:00.000-07:00

Bush, with peer group, delights in petting a turkey.

Today George W. Bush performed the only function he is intellectually qualified to do: Give presidential clemency to an incredibly stupid animal. The animal will live out the rest of it's days in a petting zoo at Disneyland, living a higher standard of life than many americans enjoy.

It was nice of Dick to let George pet the turkey, though. I bet that made his day.

Anti-Democrat posts coming soon, I promise.

hot or not?

2005-11-21T13:03:00.000-07:00

So... what do you think?

I'm still working on the new template. A couple of glitch's in the HTML at this point...

You'll have to attach your own signatures at the end of your posts until I figure out the code. If anyone has any comments of suggestions, shoot them my way.

Secretary of Voyeuristic Intentions.

chinese trick doors...

2005-11-20T14:53:00.000-07:00

This made my weekend:

BBC: Door thwarts quick exit for Bush.

Hatch vs. Hatch in Utah

2005-11-15T16:30:00.000-07:00

During next November's mid-term elections, while Utah Republican Senator Orin Hatch, age 72, will be facing his main challenge from Democratic nominee Peter Ashdown, he will also be facing a challenge from within his family.

The Utah Green Party's nominee for the Senate spot is Julian Hatch, a distant relative of Senator Hatch.

Time's Top Five

2005-11-15T00:28:00.000-07:00

Time Magazine has come up with a list of the 5 Best Governors.

Top 5

Kenny Guinn (R-Nevada)
Mike Huckabee (R-Arkansas)
Janet Napolitano (D-Arizona)
Kathleen Sebelius (D-Kansas)
Mark Warner (D-Virginia)

Thoughts? Who are your top 5?

"Strategy for Victory"

2005-11-11T15:34:00.000-07:00

This odd post-'Mission Accomplished' phrase hovered as the slogan over Bush’s shoulder today as he delivered a Veterans Day speech aimed at regaining the high ground on the war in Iraq; presumably, the exercdise was also meant to turn the tide on plummeting approval ratings now festering somewhere below 40%.

Among the curious barbs, the President accused Democrats of revisionism of events leading up to the war:

While it's perfectly legitimate to criticize my decision or the conduct of the war, it is deeply irresponsible to rewrite the history of how that war began. Some Democrats and anti-war critics are now claiming we manipulated the intelligence and misled the American people about why we went to war. These critics are fully aware that a bipartisan Senate investigation found no evidence of political pressure to change the intelligence community's judgments related to Iraq's weapons programs.

And in a particularly crass display of Veterans Day political grandstanding, Bush offered the following in summation:

These baseless attacks send the wrong signal to our troops and to an enemy that is questioning America's will. As our troops fight a ruthless enemy determined to destroy our way of life, they deserve to know that their elected leaders who voted to send them to war continue to stand behind them. Our troops deserve to know that this support will remain firm when the going gets tough. And our troops deserve to know that whatever our differences in Washington, our will is strong, our nation is united, and we will settle for nothing less than victory.

John Kerry was reported as saying: "I wish President Bush knew better than to dishonour America's veterans by playing the politics of fear and smear on Veterans Day."

Usually the President visits Arlington National Cemetary on Veterans Day, but Cheney was assigned that duty and was reported as having parroted Bush's message: "we can be certain that by the resolve of our country, by the rightness of our cause...we will prevail."

Between Bush and the Veep it all sounded a bit like an attempt to rescue the justice of the cause, in keeping with that line from Henry V: "methinks I could not die anywhere so contented as in the King's company; his cause being just and his quarrel honourable."

It remains to be seen whether the war can be won on pure piss and vinegar, but in the absence of anything else that seems to remain the "strategy for victory."

More Evolution

2005-11-10T11:22:00.000-07:00

The New York Times has an excellent editorial piece on the recent movements on evolution in the classroom.

It flat out calls what Kansas is doing:

"Most significant, the definition of science is changed so it is not limited to natural explanations."

Science is meant to look at the natural world and to include the spiritual realm at all, is to mock the value of science. Now, if the spiritual realm needs to be introduced, I suggest adding a theology class of some sort that can debate any potential greater meaning from scientific work.

The regression to 'world is flat' mentality is sad. Someday they will learn... I hope.

Victory for Evolution in Pennsylvania, Another Setback in Kansas

2005-11-09T10:46:00.000-07:00

In the hub-bub of the larger elections occuring yesterday, there was one election of great significance to science in America. Pennsylvania, which is currently the centre piece of a lawsuit brought on by parents who object to intelligent design being mentioned in the science classroom because of it's religous connotations, elected a slate of school board trustees. These trustees ran to protect evolution in the classrooms.

Meanwhile, in Kansas, the school board decided that intelligent design will be presented to students as a legitmate critique of evolution.

As a person who has studied biology extensively, I applaud Pennsylvania and condemn Kansas. Intelligent design is the introduction of religion into schools and as such should be constitutionally challenged. That's why I love the ACLU.

Dems hold New Jersey and Virginia

2005-11-08T21:24:00.000-07:00

CNN has prejected Democratic victories in today's New Jersey and Virginia Gubernatorial elections.

In Viginia, that means former Lt. Governor, Tim Kaine, will have defeated his Republican challenger, former Attorney General Jerry Kilgore. According to the New York Times, "[w]ith 96 percent of the ballots counted, Mr. Kaine had 51.5 percent of the vote, to 46.3 percent for his Republican opponent, Jerry W. Kilgore, a former state attorney general. An independent candidate, State Senator H. Russell Potts Jr., had 2 percent."

In New Jersey, multimillionare Democratic Senator Jon Corzine has defeated multimillionare Republican Doug Forrester. According to the Associated Press, Corzine was leading with 53.9% to Forrester's 43% with only 60% of precincts reporting.

Scott McClellan: Athwartful Dodger

2005-11-08T17:24:00.000-07:00

The other day, GWB said “We do not torture,” during a speech. Meanwhile, probably at that very moment, Veep Cheney was bouncing around Capitol Hill trying to convince Senator-by-Senator, to exclude the “McCain Amendment” proposed by Senator John McCain, who spent the better part of the late 60’s/Early 70’s hanging from his thumbs in a cell at the Hanoi Hilton. The amendment is to ban US soldiers and agents from “cruel, inhuman and degrading” treatment of captives. Cheney originally threatened a veto from Bush if it passed, but it passed 90-9 in the Senate, and therefore can’t be vetoed at all. Not only has Cheney been trying to get this language out of the bill, he’s trying to insert language that would allow the CIA to do whatever it wants, like shock genitals or put a rat on someone’s stomach, cover it with a metal bucket and then heat the bucket with a blowtorch so that the rat, facing the unbearable heat, attempts to dig into the stomach. Reporters, the troublemakers that they are, caught wind of the Cheneymandering and asked questions to White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan. I thought today was going to be the day that Scott would break down and cry like an American family who gets sent their son’s dog-tags in the mail (too soon?). Honestly, the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room is looking like a venue for an Abbott and Costello Revival these days. The following is from his press briefing today (it’s long, but it’s worth it):

(keep in mind that every time you see “- -“, that means someone has been interrupted)

Q I'd like you to clear up, once and for all, the ambiguity about torture. Can we get a straight answer? The President says we don't do torture, but Cheney --

MR. McCLELLAN: That's about as straight as it can be.

Q Yes, but Cheney has gone to the Senate and asked for an exemption on --

MR. McCLELLAN: No, he has not. Are you claiming he's asked for an exemption on torture? No, that's --

Q He did not ask for that?

MR. McCLELLAN: -- that is inaccurate.

Q Are you denying everything that came from the Hill, in terms of torture?

MR. McCLELLAN: No, you're mischaracterizing things. And I'm not going to get into discussions we have --

Q Can you give me a straight answer for once?

MR. McCLELLAN: Let me give it to you, just like the President has. We do not torture.
He does not condone torture and he would never --

Q I'm asking about exemptions.

MR. McCLELLAN: Let me respond. And he would never authorize the use of torture. We have an obligation to do all that we can to protect the American people. We are engaged --

Q That's not the answer I'm asking for --

MR. McCLELLAN: It is an answer -- because the American people want to know that we are doing all within our power to prevent terrorist attacks from happening. There are people in this world who want to spread a hateful ideology that is based on killing innocent men, women and children. We saw what they can do on September 11th --

Q He didn't ask for an exemption --

MR. McCLELLAN: -- and we are going to --
Q -- answer that one question. I'm asking, is the administration asking for an exemption?

MR. McCLELLAN: I am answering your question. The President has made it very clear that we are going to do --

Q You're not answering -- yes or no?

MR. McCLELLAN: No, you don't want the American people to hear what the facts are, Helen, and I'm going to tell them the facts.

Q -- the American people every day. I'm asking you, yes or no, did we ask for an exemption?

MR. McCLELLAN: And let me respond. You've had your opportunity to ask the question. Now I'm going to respond to it.

Q If you could answer in a straight way.

MR. McCLELLAN: And I'm going to answer it, just like the President -- I just did, and the President has answered it numerous times.

Q -- yes or no --

MR. McCLELLAN: Our most important responsibility is to protect the American people. We are engaged in a global war against Islamic radicals who are intent on spreading a hateful ideology, and intent on killing innocent men, women and children.

Q Did we ask for an exemption?

MR. McCLELLAN: We are going to do what is necessary to protect the American people.

Q Is that the answer?

MR. McCLELLAN: We are also going to do so in a way that adheres to our laws and to our values. We have made that very clear. The President directed everybody within this government that we do not engage in torture. We will not torture. He made that very clear.

Q Are you denying we asked for an exemption?

MR. McCLELLAN: Helen, we will continue to work with the Congress on the issue that you brought up. The way you characterize it, that we're asking for exemption from torture, is just flat-out false, because there are laws that are on the books that prohibit the use of torture. And we adhere to those laws.

Q We did ask for an exemption; is that right? I mean, be simple -- this is a very simple question.

MR. McCLELLAN: I just answered your question. The President answered it last week.

Q What are we asking for?

Q Would you characterize what we're asking for?

MR. McCLELLAN: We're asking to do what is necessary to protect the American people in a way that is consistent with our laws and our treaty obligations. And that's what we --

Q Why does the CIA need an exemption from the military?

MR. McCLELLAN: David, let's talk about people that you're talking about who have been brought to justice and captured. You're talking about people like Khalid Shaykh Muhammad; people like Abu Zubaydah.

Q I'm asking you --

MR. McCLELLAN: No, this is facts about what you're talking about.

Q Why does the CIA need an exemption from rules that would govern the conduct of our military in interrogation practices?

MR. McCLELLAN: There are already laws and rules that are on the books, and we follow those laws and rules. What we need to make sure is that we are able to carry out the war on terrorism as effectively as possible, not only --

Q What does that mean --

MR. McCLELLAN: What I'm telling you right now -- not only to protect Americans from an attack, but to prevent an attack from happening in the first place. And, you bet, when we capture terrorist leaders, we are going to seek to find out information that will protect -- that prevent attacks from happening in the first place. But we have an obligation to do so. Our military knows this; all people within the United States government know this. We have an obligation to do so in a way that is consistent with our laws and values.
Now, the people that you are bringing up -- you're talking about in the context, and I think it's important for the American people to know, are people like Khalid Shaykh Muhammad, Abu Zubaydah, Ramzi Binalshibh -- these are -- these are dangerous killers.

Q So they're all killers --

Q Did you ask for an exemption on torture? That's a simple question, yes or no.

MR. McCLELLAN: No. And we have not. That's what I told you at the beginning.

Q You want to reserve the ability to use tougher tactics with those individuals who you mentioned.

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, obviously, you have a different view from the American people. I think the American people understand the importance of doing everything within our power and within our laws to protect the American people.

Q Scott, are you saying that Cheney did not ask --

Q What is it that you want the -- what is it that you want the CIA to be able to do that the U.S. Armed Forces are not allowed to do?

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm not going to get into talking about national security matters, Bill. I don't do that, because this involves --

Q This would be the exemption, in other words.

MR. McCLELLAN: This involves information that relates to doing all we can to protect the American people. And if you have a different view -- obviously, some of you on this room -- in this room have a different view, some of you on the front row have a different view.

Q We simply are asking a question.

Q What is the Vice President -- what is the Vice President asking for?

MR. McCLELLAN: It's spelled out in our statement of administration policy in terms of what our views are. That's very public information. In terms of our discussions with members of Congress --

Q -- no, it's not --

MR. McCLELLAN: In terms of our members -- like I said, there are already laws on the books that we have to adhere to and abide by, and we do. And we believe that those laws and those obligations address these issues.

Q So then why is the Vice President continuing to lobby on this issue? If you're very happy with the laws on the books, what needs change?

MR. McCLELLAN: Again, you asked me -- you want to ask questions of the Vice President's office, feel free to do that. We've made our position very clear, and it's spelled out on our website for everybody to see.

Q We don't need a website, we need you from the podium.

MR. McCLELLAN: And what I just told you is what our view is.

Q But Scott, do you see the contradiction --

MR. McCLELLAN: Jessica, go ahead.

And then, a little bit later…

MR. McCLELLAN: You bet, the President is going to act to do what he can to prevent an attack from happening on the American people. That's what the American people expect. But we're going to do so consistent with our laws and values, and we've made that repeatedly clear.

Q So what is the Vice President lobbying for? And is he doing it on behalf of the White House, or is he operating independently?

MR. McCLELLAN: Again, I just said we're going to continue to work with Congress.
Go ahead.

Q Why don't you answer the one question on exemption?
MR. McCLELLAN: I just did, Helen.

Q Does the Vice President's Office have -- I mean, you blanket -- covered the White House. The Vice President's Office is under the Office of the White House. Why can't you just -- why can't you answer?

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm not going to get into all the discussions we have with members of Congress. If they want to add additional information, you're welcome to contact their office, as well.

Q Well, they don't answer like you do. You are at that podium. We need to hear from you. You --

MR. McCLELLAN: And I just made it clear --

Q -- are the Press Secretary for all --

MR. McCLELLAN: There's a statement of administration policy that has been put out. And -- but let's talk about what this issue is relating to. This issue is relating to the protection of the American people and making sure that the President of the United States has the tools he needs to be able to prevent attacks from happening, and to be able to stop those terrorists who still seek to do us harm from carrying out their attacks in the first place.

Q -- the Vice President wants torture? Which --

MR. McCLELLAN: Wrong. That is absolutely false.

Q Well, then tell us --

MR. McCLELLAN: The President has made it very clear that we do not torture.

Q What is the Vice President doing?

MR. McCLELLAN: I just told you.

Q You have not. I'm not trying to be --

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm not going to let you -- you are mischaracterizing what this is about.

Q Scott, no, we want to know --

MR. McCLELLAN: It's clearly in the statement of administration policy. April, look, you can keep showboating for the cameras, but we've made clear what our views are. [Keep in mind that he is speaking with April Ryan, who is a the correspondent for the American Urban Radio Networks]

Q Thank you -- I showboat well, thank you --

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, you are. Let's be honest about it.

Q I'm being honest. I want an honest answer from you.

MR. McCLELLAN: And you got it in the statement of administration policy.

Q -- in the website. That is not -- that is not --

MR. McCLELLAN: You got it in the statement of administration policy. There are already laws on the books that cover these issues.

Q -- this issue --

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, and that's what it is.

Q Well, give it to us then.

MR. McCLELLAN: Go look on our website. I'll be glad to provide it to you.

Q -- which website?

MR. McCLELLAN: And I just told you what it is. Are you not listening? I just told you
what it is.

Q Scott, the Department of Defense is revising --

MR. McCLELLAN: I think you need to calm down a little bit and let me respond.
Go ahead.

And then he finished with this, speaking to the job of Press Secretary:

MR. McCLELLAN: -- look forward to continuing to do it. Sure, I enjoy it because -- an important topic was raised at the beginning of this briefing, and I'm glad to talk about it. Some were intent on trying to jump in and not let me respond fully. And I understand that. They're just trying to do their job. But there are important -- there are important points that need to be made to the American people. There is a reminder that we will continue to make to the American people. Also, I love sodomy.

Precursor to Bush's Report Card?

2005-11-08T11:52:00.000-07:00

Well, it is election day in some states today. New Jersey and Virginia will be electing their governor and Califorians will be voting on 4 measures that Gov. Schwarzenegger has said are crucial to real economic reform. According to The Moderate Voice, these elections could provide some insight to next year's midterm elections where the House of Representatives will be elected along with a third of the Senate.

Virginia in particular seems to be a battlegroud with President Bush arriving yesterday to support Republican gubernatorial candidate Jerry Kilgore and rally the conservative base to go vote. Both the New Jersey and Vigrginia races have been plagued with negative campaigning, which has turned off many voters. Voters prefer a discussion of issues.

California has seen Gov. Schwarzenegger facing off against Rob Reiner and Warren Beatty who have actively campaigned against the Governator's propositions for weakening unions and the poor. With Arnold saying he will seek a second term, the results of this propositions could give significant insight to his 2006 campaign.

Clarification

2005-10-31T19:58:00.000-07:00

While, I am not sold on Alito, I do think that it will be tough to stop his nomination because he has the experience. As the New York Times points out, Miers was more of Democrat appeasing nominee because of a lack of a track record. When the right went after her, the Democrats failed to defend her.

I also would like to discuss interlocutor's comment in the previous post. He states that abortion should have been legislated so that the Court's did not have to discuss it. But there was no need to legislate abortion because the Court had previously determined there was a right to privacy in Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479 (1965). For abortion, the Court upheld that belief in Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973). The question for them is to define what legally constitutes a person, at what point from zygote to birth is a foetus a person? They rather arrived at a haphazard method of determining based on known biology of the day, but came up with some coherent vision, the trimester scheme. This got further refined to viability of the foetus outside of the womb.

But the key thing to note is that Alito's track record on abortion is not directly against the right to abortion itself, but secondary concerns like requiring permission slips from the parents of an underage teen who is seeking an abortion. The more weird concern is his belief that a woman pursuing an abortion must tell her husband if she is married. But this makes sense if you read Griswold v. Connecticut where the Court specifically ruled that there is a right to privacy exists in a marriage because it is a right retained from the tradition of marriage and therefore did not need to be legislated. I think a reasonable argument can be said that that right to privacy requires obligations. Whether this is morally correct, I think an argument in sound legal reasoning can be made.

2005-10-31T05:00:00.000-07:00

If you are a woman living in America and you want an abortion, you better hop to it. Hell, you might want to even get knocked up and then get rid of it just to say that you did it when it was legal, back in the day.

Apparently, Samuel Alito will be nominated to the Supreme Court today, replacing the Sandra Day O'Connor liberal swing vote with a moderate-right judge just right enough to make Democrats nervous about the abortion vote, affirmative action, etc.

In ten years, watch for husbands to be claiming wives as a capital gain on their tax return. God willing.

Ted Kennedy Superstar

2005-10-30T21:57:00.000-07:00

In case anyone missed this one...

Sen. Edward Kennedy helps rescue fishermen

October 17, 2005

HYANNIS, Mass. --U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy attempted to rescue six men who had become trapped by high tide on a jetty off Hyannisport on Sunday.

The Massachusetts Democrat eventually left the rescue to Hyannis firefighters, The Cape Cod Times reported Monday. Kennedy was walking his two dogs on the shore at 11:15 a.m. when he spotted the men cut off from shore by the rising waters. They had been fishing on a jetty that begins at the tip of the Kennedy compound. (more here)

14 white folks

2005-10-28T00:07:00.000-06:00

Newsday has a handy interactive slideshow revealing 17 possible candidates for nomination in the wake of Miers' peace-out.

There are seven white fellas and seven white gals. At the back of the supreme court bus (too soon?) are two hispanics (including Gonzales who will not fly because of his liberal take on Roe v. Wade and the likely resurgence of the executive privilege thing) and one black man (Larry D. Thompson, who's a good pal of ol' PubeMaster-T himself, Clarence Thomas).

So does it matter if the next justice is another white person, much less a white dude?

Predictions for tomorrow?

2005-10-27T14:39:00.000-06:00

Lets hear from the cabinet on this one. Leave them in the comments.

Welcome to the G-35!

2005-10-27T10:54:00.000-06:00

Dear Ms. Miers,

It is our pleasure to welcome you to the EXCLUSIVE group known as the G-35!

As a member of this group, you will be join the the ranks of other notable Supreme Court nominees who didn't "go all the way," including William Paterson, Roger Taney, Robert Bork, and G. Harrold Carswell!

Enjoy the cake and juice!

Sincerely,

SVI.

The Saga Continues

2005-10-27T10:13:00.000-06:00

Looks as if George Bush's plan for Harriet Miers to sit on the Supreme Court have been foiled again. Today, she sent a letter to the President asking that her nomination be withdrawn because of the Senate's scrutiny of her work as Bush's Legal Counsel. But Bush wanted to use executive privelege to bury those documents.

It's kind of nice to see Republican and Democrats united against the Miers nomination. Accusations of cronyism and incompetence abounded during the process. She was even asked to rewrite a survey to the Senate judicaryl committee who felt her inital answers were 'incompetent' and 'insulting' for a Supreme Court nominee.

Harriet Miers Withdraws Her Nomination!

2005-10-27T07:47:00.000-06:00

OH SNAP!

I think the only way Bush's week could get worse is if Osama bin Laden turned out to be his real father.

2005-10-26T20:25:00.000-06:00

Every newspaper in Canada ran a different photo in the same sequence of this photo of Condoleezza Rice meeting Canadian Governor General/Part-Time Seperatist/Full-Time Hottie Michaelle Jean.

In this photo, if you look directly to the right of Condi's right elbow, you will see the book "Shake Hands With The Devil."

2005-10-25T20:06:00.000-06:00

In American politics, the filibuster is a device, used only in the Senate, to delay or prevent a vote by time-consuming talk. It can be stopped only by a 60-member vote of the senators present and voting.