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The Daily Muck
Embattled Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick (D) goes to court today accused of violating the terms of his bond a second time. The mayor is facing charges of perjury and obstruction of justice for allegedly lying under oath about an affair with his chief of staff, as well as a separate set of charges of assaulting a sheriff's deputy. Kilpatrick spent last Thursday night in jail for a bond violation. (Associated Press)
The increased attention on the anthrax investigation, sparked by the recent death of accused anthrax killer Bruce Ivins, has moved lawmakers to investigate security at bio-defense labs. Ivins was allowed to work at a federal lab for years after the FBI listed him as a suspect in the 2001 attacks. (Los Angeles Times)
Prosecutors in the case against Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) filed a motion Monday requesting the trial remain in Washington. Stevens' lawyers want the trial heard in Stevens' home state of Alaska, citing the sitting senator's campaign schedule. The prosecution argued that moving the trial to Alaska could taint the jury pool. (Anchorage Daily News)
Federal agents raided the offices of the New Orleans Affordable Homeownership Corp., carting away boxes of documents just days after a U.S. attorney announced the group was under investigation. NOAH, a non-profit hired by the city to help with clean-up after Hurricane Katrina, has been unable to document work on 90 of its projects, roughly half of which were billed to the city. (Associated Press)
The U.S. has spent $100 billion on private security contractors, like Blackwater, since the Iraq invasion in 2003. The figure comes from a government report set to be released by the Congressional Budget Office early this morning. (New York Times)
Tony Sanchez, the former Superior Court of Guam Administrator, pleaded not guilty to improperly using more than $300,000 of court money to pay for lobbyist and legal expenses. Convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff had previously agreed to cooperate with prosecutors and provide information in the case against Sanchez. (KUAM News)
You know as a consequence of the FBI asssertions of the mental state of their suspect, we have a hegalian reaction where lawmakers want to revisit vetting and credentialing procedures.
The point is this, you cannot vet all people with bio-backgrounds, I mean if you believe the assertion that the attacks were carried out by one man, then why can't other loan wolfs reproduce the results?
Second the review that is suggested leads to an atmosphere where workers will be discouraged to seek help, if there is a subsatnce abuse issue (alcohol), or an issue where there is a divorce and allegations are made by a spouse, (where counseling is sought), where teens make an employee's life hell, (insanity is genetic, you get it from the kids), or where there is also real-world issues where mental health is an issue.
I don't think discouraging people who were hired due to their expertise in biology should be sub sequentially discouraged from seeking mental health care by a qualified doctor.
I don't see how this fear of seeking medical health care will make America safer.
If anything I think it will lead to making the circumstances worse.
While people who hear voices are not candidates for hire in sensitive positions, nonetheless going on a witchhunt for people who are utilizing mental health care, as a consequence of a circumstantial case as described by the FBI, will not increase security, it will in fact be counter productive.
I think hearings around the manner in which the FBI conducted the investigation, along with the procedures associated with handling materials, chain of custody, video of work; etc, is going to add more to security than scapegoating the adjudication policy of disclosing and seeking mental health which it seems that the employee did with his seeking counseling.
Again, discouraging employees seeking mental health care will not improve security.
August 12, 2008 11:28 AM | Reply | Permalink
Kilpatrick is doing his best to weaken the "culture of corruption" charge that might have worked as well in 2008 as it did in 2006. The number of scandals don't have to of equal scale or number to make it look like both sides are guilty. The one thing that stands out however is that Democrats generally come down fast and hard on their own, like Edwards, Spitzer, and the resigned state attorney general in Ohio. Republican, by contrast, protect their own no matter what. What Edwards or Spitzer did was no worse the Vitter, yet there was never a suggestion that Vitter resign. Detroit has to do whatever more it can to kick out Kilpatrick, like perhaps come up with an impeachment procedure, and I wish there was some way to boot Richard Jefferson out of the House. Maybe this is why Democratic politicians aren't hitting corruption harder in the campaign.
On the grassroots end, we need to push Congress for better ethics investigations and sanctions. We need to have ways of removing officials in state and local governments.
August 12, 2008 1:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Maybe Marion Barry should go and run for next mayor of Detroit. Kwame Kilpatrick is making him look like a tantalizing alternative right now.
Oh, and ericf, you mean William Jefferson. Richard Jefferson is a pro basketball player.
August 13, 2008 6:07 AM | Reply | Permalink