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The Daily Muck
Saud Memon, a “long-sought” suspect in the brutal murder of journalist Daniel Pearl, died earlier this year. Memon was secretly interrogated by US and Pakistani officials. Making Pearl's case even uglier, there's reason to believe that the detention and interrogation played a role in his death. (Wall Street Journal)
The government holds a distinct advantage in the war crimes trial in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in so far as it s lawyers may legally hide critical information and witness testimony. Neither U.S. criminal law nor the Uniform Code of Military Justice apply to the trials. But even with this “stacked deck,” the only conviction secured by the commissions was the result of a plea bargain deal with an Australian prisoner. (LA Times)
Though Norman Hsu once evaded a heavily muscled, dragon tattooed debt collector named “Shrimp Boy,” by telling police he was being kidnapped, he eventually ran out of excuses with law enforcement and wealthy investors. The Wall Street Journal has a colorful round-up of his schemes and scams, including how Hsu became a fugitive in a latex glove case. (Wall Street Journal)
A front page New York Times piece on the need to restore stability to the Justice Department reads like an open invitation for Attorney General Michael Mukasey to make Rachel Paulose’s office his first stop. The 34 year-old Paulose serves as the poster child for all that went wrong with Justice under Gonzales. (New York Times)
As former U.S attorney in Arizona, Paul Charlton, was recounting a brutal murder on a Navajo reservation to high level Justice Department officials, it struck him: the official did not comprehend the most basic principles of federal Indian law. What tipped Charlton off was the question, “Why are you even prosecuting this case?” U.S attorneys have sole authority in prosecuting felonies on reservations. The Denver Post gives an overview of the spotty record of law enforcement on reservations. (Denver Post)
Lawyers for indicted representative William Jefferson (D-LA) may win a prize for sophistry with their newest defense. Their newest motion asserts that changes to federal law that are outlined in the Public Corruption Prosecution Improvements Act (it was recently approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee) strengthens their case. For the tortured logic check out The Politico. (Politico)
A federal judge has ordered the White House to preserve copies of all its emails. The decision is a result of a lawsuit against the White House over the alleged destruction or disappearance of five million e-mails. (USA Today)
Last week the director of Iraq’s state-run television network stated “It's really surprising that Blackwater is still out there killing people." But this week Blackwater is competing for pieces of new $15 billion (over 5 years) U.S. government contracts to fight narcotics trafficking. Even if Blackwater does not win a piece of the pie outright, it could end up as subcontractor to a rival company. (Wall Street Journal)
Comments (5)
moondancer wrote on November 13, 2007 11:16 AM:The first two items come to the core issue for me. Five plus years of wanton spending , relentless assault on the Bill of Rights, and for what?
mac2151 wrote on November 13, 2007 11:51 AM:It is the largest scam ever perpetrated on a people. Codpiece politics is what we have here. There is no useful intelligence from torture. There is fear and the image of power.
The cost in treasure and reputation is not acceptable to me. We have paid premium prices for incompetence and failure.
That one line says it all "US Attorneys have sole authority in prosecuting felonies on (Indiuan) reservations".
It fits the Jack Abramoff model of bringing Guam to America via Indian casinos, off-shore gambling boats, hub-zones, call centers, & unregulated non-profits.
Go where the law isn't, and if the law is there, we'll circumvent it by destroying the DOJ.
And, wasn't Tom DeLay's last chore to sit on the budget committee for DOJ?
TheraP wrote on November 13, 2007 12:18 PM:shorter moondancer and shorter US of A (now, in the eyes of the world)
Scams = US
Great Auk wrote on November 13, 2007 12:23 PM:The article about Paulose in the NYT is a sham. It is more of a gossip column than a serious investigation.
Philip Shenon lists three charges for which the Minnesota USA is currently under investigation--mishandling classified documents, retaliation against an employee, and using a racial epithet in reference to another employee. The only accusation that is even mentioned in subsequent graphs is the racial epithet, which was framed in the context of statements by (anonymous) "friends" who denied it for her.
In the article, Shenon presented 15 graphs of testimonials defending Paulose, including references to a talking point memo put out by USA.
In contrast, there are only 8 graphs which raise even mild criticism of her performance; of these, only two graphs allude to potential wrongdoing and the rest focus on her poor performance as a manager.
In the majority opinion of the article, she is a "brilliant" and "extraordinary lady" who is "doing the work of the people" while, according to her own press release, indictments are at an "all-time high."
Meanwhile, the reputations of the three senior staff members who voluntarily demoted themselves protesting her leadership are besmirched by the former chief justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court who "suspect[s]" they were motivated by sexism or ageism. Of course, Shenon never bothers to tell his readers if Justice Keith has any specific knowledge of the investigation or if he is basing his accusations solely on the fact that Paulose is a former undergraduate student of his.
This article is a maddening example of state of journalism in America. To often, journalists end up writing the meta story focusing on what people are saying about a thing rather than actually investigating the thing itself. It is far easier to transcribe the fact sheets and grab a few quotes of "he said, she said" than to actually dig into the event itself. Worst of all, since the story ran in the influential New York Times, it will inevitably frame the story for local papers all over the country.
Where is the accountability?
Dee Illuminati wrote on November 13, 2007 3:07 PM:William Jefferson (D-LA) may win a prize for sophistry with their newest defense.
Well it really takes the sidebar award for quibbling and results in delaying the prosecution by encumbering them with motions. I will say however the 'race card' argument was a nice piece of work though I doubt a DC judge/jury will have any less fascination with the monies found in the refrigerator.
Sophistry? No,
But a tired ass argument:
Law of identity: 'Whatever is, is.'
(think Bill Clinton)
Law of noncontradiction: 'Nothing can both be and not be.'
(Think George Bush, your either with us or against us)
Law of excluded middle: 'Everything must either be or not be.'
And then the most abused of them all???
Law of excluded middle:
Think political quibbling and ridiculous partisan assertions.
My favorite excluded middle was taught to me in interrogation training as a theme...
"Either the nobles of this country appear wealthy, in which case they can be taxed for good; or they appear poor, in which case they are living frugally and must have immense savings, which can be taxed for good."