Sunday, January 08, 2006

Dean Lays It Down On Abramoff “There are no Democrats who took money from Jack Abramoff, not one, not one single Democrat. Every person named in this scandal is a Republican. Every person under investigation is a Republican. Every person indicted is a Republican. This is a Republican finance scandal. There is no evidence that Jack Abramoff ever gave any Democrat any money and we’ve looked through all of the F.E.C. reports to make sure that’s true…I know the Republican National Committee would like to get the Democrats involved in this. They’re scared. They should be scared. They haven’t told the truth. They have misled the American people, and now it appears they’re stealing from Indian tribes. The Democrats are not involved in this.” (Via Oliver Willis - Like Kryptonite To Stupid.) 4:58:51 PM    comment []

If they were miners… As Bob Scheer pointed out today on Left, Right, and Center, eleven American troops have died in Iraq over the past two days. The media have largely accepted that as business as usual—and so have the American people. A mining calamity is of much more interest to the nation than the daily calamity that is Iraq. This halftime war has produce some very sad outcomes, not only for the dead, but for the living as well. [joseph] (Via Martini Republic.) 4:44:37 PM    comment []

Quote of the Day "There will still be some who believe that they can affect the political outcome of Iraq through violent means." - George Bush, the "Commander-in-Chief" of the armed forces which invaded Iraq and overthrew its leadership through somewhat less than peaceful means, and whose 150,000 troops and airplanes continue to accomplish their political (and economic) aims through violent means. Of course this isn't the first time he's used this absurd formulation, I just thought it was time to highlight it (and apologies if I've done so before and forgotten). (Via Left I on the News.) 4:23:03 PM    comment []

The Law Bush Broke There was a question in comments earlier about exactly what law Bush broke when he authorized warrantless wiretaps of US persons. You can read the text of the electronic surveillance portion of the statute at this Cornell webpage. My favorite part is excerpted below: (a) Prohibited activities A person is guilty of an offense if he intentionally— (1) engages in electronic surveillance under color of law except as authorized by statute; or (2) discloses or uses information obtained under color of law by electronic surveillance, knowing or having reason to know that the information was obtained through electronic surveillance not authorized by statute. (b) Defense It is a defense to a prosecution under subsection (a) of this section that the defendant was a law enforcement or investigative officer engaged in the course of his official duties and the electronic surveillance was authorized by and conducted pursuant to a search warrant or court order of a court of competent jurisdiction. (c) Penalties An offense described in this section is punishable by a fine of not more than $10,000 or imprisonment for not more than five years, or both. (d) Federal jurisdiction There is Federal jurisdiction over an offense under this section if the person committing the offense was an officer or employee of the United States at the time the offense was committed. Federal prison for not more than five years. Sounds about right to me. (Via The Ape Man.) 4:06:23 PM    comment []

The Law Bush Broke There was a question in comments earlier about exactly what law Bush broke when he authorized warrantless wiretaps of US persons. You can read the text of the electronic surveillance portion of the statute at this Cornell webpage. My favorite part is excerpted below: (a) Prohibited activities A person is guilty of an offense if he intentionally— (1) engages in electronic surveillance under color of law except as authorized by statute; or (2) discloses or uses information obtained under color of law by electronic surveillance, knowing or having reason to know that the information was obtained through electronic surveillance not authorized by statute. (b) Defense It is a defense to a prosecution under subsection (a) of this section that the defendant was a law enforcement or investigative officer engaged in the course of his official duties and the electronic surveillance was authorized by and conducted pursuant to a search warrant or court order of a court of competent jurisdiction. (c) Penalties An offense described in this section is punishable by a fine of not more than $10,000 or imprisonment for not more than five years, or both. (d) Federal jurisdiction There is Federal jurisdiction over an offense under this section if the person committing the offense was an officer or employee of the United States at the time the offense was committed. Federal prison for not more than five years. Sounds about right to me. (Via The Ape Man.) 4:03:40 PM    comment []

What Does Your Daddy Do This has been making the email rounds, I liked it so much I had to post it. One day a fourth-grade teacher asked the children what their fathers did for a living. All the typical answers came up -- fireman, mechanic, businessman, salesman, doctor, lawyer, and so forth. But little Justin was being uncharacteristically quiet, so when the teacher prodded him about his father, he replied, "My father's an exotic dancer in a gay cabaret and takes off all his clothes in front of other men and they put money in his underwear. Sometimes, if the offer is really good, he will go home with some guy and make love with him for money." The teacher, obviously shaken by this statement, hurriedly set the other children to work on some exercises and then took little Justin aside to ask him, "Is that really true about your father?" "No," the boy said, "He works for the Republican National Committee and helped re-elect George Bush, but I was too embarrassed to say that in front of the other kids." Tags: Politics, Humor (Via Skeptic Rant.) 3:29:04 PM    comment []

© Copyright 2006 Steve Michel. Last update: 2/1/2006; 8:43:56 PM.